EFFECTIVE 
TER  DINNER 
X  RiCKS 


HOW  TO  PERFORM  THEM 


All  Easy  To  Do — 'No  Skill  Required 


*rice  One  Dollar 


Published 


SMAN 


EX  LIBRIS 

WILLYS  A.  MYERS 

American  Vice-Consul 


-1- 


A  NOVELTY  WITH  PAPER  BALLS 

This  is  essentially  a  table,  or  impromptu  trick  but  my  magical 
friends  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  master  it  will  find  it  a  welcome 
addition  to  their  repertoire  of  parlor  effects.  By  the  way  there  is 
a  scarcity  of  good  novelty  effects,  and  the  minds  of  inventors  seem 
to  run  more  or  less  to  card  effects.  The  following  experiment  is  not 
new  but  has  a  finish  that  is  a  knockout  when  presented  properly, 
combining  sleight  of  hand  with  practically  no  preparation. 

REQUIRED ;  Four  small  wadded  paper  balls,  two  hats,  one  large  wadded 
paper  ball  which  must  be  wadded  large  enough  to  exactly  fit  in  one  of 
these  hats,  a  large  handkerchief  and  an  assistant. 

EFFECT ;  A  handkerchief  (unprepared)  is  spread  on  the  table.  Four 
wadded  paper  balls  are  laid  on  the  handkerchief  so  as  to  form  the 
corners  of  the  square.  The  four  balls  eventually  come  together  under 
one  of  the  hats.  No  duplicate  paper  balls  are  used  and  the  four  balls 
may  be  marked  if  desired.  Then  the  finale  with  the  large  paper  ball 
which  is  explained  later. 

EXPLANATION!  A,  B,  C  and  D  are  the  four  paper  balls.  Now  exhibit  the 
two  hats  and  prove  them  to  be  absolutely  without  previous  preparation 
and  perfectly  empty.  Holding  a  hat  in  each  hand  and  showing  his  hand 
to  be  otherwise  empty  the  magician  covers  the  balls  marked  A  and  B. 
Observing  that  by  covering  these  two  balls,  the  other  two  balls  are 
visible,  he  quickly  shifts  the  hats  so  as  to  cover  C  and  D,  observing 
at  the  same  time  that  the  two  front  balls  are  visible.  The  performer 
shifts  hats  again  and  covers  A  and  B,  and  while  talking  to  the  audience 
and  also  looking  straight  at  them,  the  fingers  of  the  right  hand  (under 
cover  of  the  hat)  pick  up  ball  B.  This  movement,  it  must  be  understood, 
is  made  without  moving  the  hat,  nor  should  there  be  the  slightest 
visible  movement  of  the  right  hand. 

Now  comes  the  crucial  move  of  the  trick.  It  is  not  a 
difficult  move,  and  if  made  properly,  the  whole 
operation  is  covered.  While  the  right  hand  holds  ball 
B  under  the  hat,  the  left  hand  removes  the  hat  from 
coin  A,  and  holds  it  squarely  in-  front  of  the  right 
hand.  Under  cover  of  the  hat  the  right  hand  carries 
the  hat  and  ball  away  and  as  the  right  hand  moves  away,  the  hat  in  the 
left  hand  Is  allowed  to  fall  on  the  table,  where  ball  B  is  supposed  to 
be.  The  right  hand  then  moves  over  to  the  left  side  of  the  table,  and 
in  the  act  of  covering  ball  A  with  the  hat,  the  ball  held  in  the  fingers 
under  the  hat  is  laid  on  the  table  near  A.  At  this  stage  of  the  experi- 
ment, you  have  two  balls  under  the  hat  at  A,  although  your  audience 
believe  that  there  is  one  ball  under  each  hat. 

Now  for  the  second  part  of  the  trick.  Important:  Request  your  audience 
to  get  as  close  to  the  table  as  possible  so  you  can  command  strict 
attention.  Your  assistant  who  comes  in  on  the  finale  manages  to  place 
himself  right  next  to  you  on  your  right I  Now  take  ball  C  In  the  fingers 
of  the  right  hand,  hold  it  up  high,  so  that  all  may  see  that  you  hold  a 
paper  ball  in  your  right  hand.  Go  through  the  movement  of  placing  the 
paper  ball  In  the  left  hand,  really  palming  same  between  the  first  and 


2088046 


second  fingers  of  the  right  hand.  There  must  be  no  hesitation  in  the 
execution  of  this  movement.  You  can  now  proceed  to  pass  the  ball 
apparently  in  the  left  hand  through  the  crown  of  the  hat.  Lift  up 
the  hat. with  the  left  hand  showing  that  there  are  now  really  two  paper 
balls  under  the  hat  and  immediately  transferring  the  hat  to  the  right 
hand.  The  ball  is  now  concealed  under  the  hat  in  the  right  hand.  Right 
hand  now  replaces  the  hat  over  the  two  balls  at  A,  adding  the  third  ball. 
There  are  now  three  balls  under  the  hat  at  A.  The  process  is  now 
repeated  with  ball  D  and  as  a  variation  you  can  pass  ball  D  through  the 
??  under  the  table  into  the  hat. 

When  the  hat  in  the  right  hand  is  placed  over  the  balls  at  A  for  the 
last  time  there  are  four  balls  under  the  hat,  although  the  audience  are 
convinced  that  there  are  only  three  as  they  are  of  the  opinion  that  there 
is  still  one  coin  under  the  right  hat  at  B.  In  order  to  pass  the  ball  B 
(apparently)  under  the  hat  at  A  you  must  vary  the  procedure.  Simply 
bend  over  and  blow  briskly  under  the  hat  at  B.  The  effect  is  as  if  you 
blew  B  under  the  hat  at  A.  Lift  up  the  hat  at  A  and  show  the  four  marked 
balls  together  and  then  lift  up  hat  at  B  showing  hat  to  be  empty,  keeping 
this  hat  in  the  right  hand  and  drop  hand  to  your  side  with  opening  of  the 
hat  to  the  rear  in  position  for  your  assistant  to  load  large  paper  ball 
into  same. 

Now  act  as  if  you  have  finished  your  experiment  having  caused  all  four 
paper  balls  to  pass  under  the  one  hat,  but  if  desired  you  will  repeat 
the  trick  with  only  one  ball.  Your' assistant  by  this  time  has  loaded  the 
large  paper  ball  into  the  hat,  which  completely  fills  the  hat.  This  ball 
he  can  easily  have  concealed  under  his  coat  until  needed. 

Now  again  place  the  hat  which  now  contains  large  ball,  on  the  table,  care 
being  taken  that  it  does  not  show  and  does  not  drop  out.  Pick  up  one  of 
the  small  paper  balls,  proceed  through  movements  as  before  and  upon 
lifting  the  hat  you  will  seem  to  be  as  surprised  as  your  audience  on  the 
result  you  have  obtained. 

The  first  part  of  this  trick  (before  the  introduction  of  the  large  ball) 
unlike  most  sleight  of  hand  tricks,  admits  of  repetition  before  the  same 
audience.  The  second  method  differs  slightly  from  the  first,  and  after 
you  have  performed  it  the  second  time  the  audience  will  be  more 
mystified  than  ever. 

In  the  second  method  you  use  five  paper  balls  instead  of  four,  but  of 
course  your  audience  Is  unaware  of  the  existence  of  the  extra  ball. 
Conceal  the  fifth  ball  in  your  left  hand,  and  arrange  the  four  balls  as 
before.  In  laying  the  hats  over  A  and  B  you  do  not  take  away  ball  at 
B  as  In  the  first  method,  but  allow  the  extra  ball  in  the  left  hand  to 
Join  ball  at  A.  The  trick  now  proceeds  as  before,  except  for  the  last 
ball  at  B.  This  you  must  get  rid  of  in  some  manner;  it  is  easy  enough 
to  slip  this  ball  in  your  pocket  while  lifting  the  hat  at  A,  because 
all  eyes  are  attracted  to  the  four  balls  there,  or  if  you  wish  it  can 
even  be  dropped  on  the  floor  when  the  finale  of  the  large  ball  is 
introduced. 

I  have  taken  some  pains  to  describe  this  trick,  giving  every  detail, 
because  it  is  really  worth  the  attention  of  the  fastidious  sleight  of 
hand  artist.  It  is  simple  in  theory,  but  the  amateur  will  discover  that 
it  must  be  worked  with  a  delicacy  of  touch,  and  with  breezy  patter,  in 
which  case  the  illusion  produced  is  perfect  and  if  the  two  methods  are 
used,  the  effect  is  really  incomprehensible: 


-3- 


IMPROMPTU  MAGIC  WITH  A  PACK  OF  CAMELS 

The  writer  has  found  the  following  effect  to  be  an  entertaining  one. 
It  is  excellent  for  impromptu  use,  as  it  contains  a  real  element  of 
mystery  and  leaves  your  spectators  gussingl 

EFFECT;  An  ordinary  pack  of  Camel  Cigarettes  are  borrowed.  Performer 
now  turns  the  side  of  the  pack  towards  the  Spectator,  displaying  the 
words:   "Choice  Quality,"  which  are  to  be  found  printed  upon  every 
pack.  A  small  hand  or  pocket  mirror  is  now  introduced.  Attention  is 
called  to  the  fact  that  the  words,  "Choice  Quality" — are  printed  upon 
the  pack  vertical  and  upright  as  they  should  be.  Performer  now  places 
the  pack  in  front  of  the  mirror,  calling  attention  to  the  reflection 
contained  therein  of  the  words:  "Choice  Quality."  They  will  appear  to 
the  Spectators'  eyes  as  being  upright  and  vertical  though  reversed. 
The  pack  is  again  removed  from  in  front  of  the  mirror,  and  again  the 
words  "Choice  Quality"  are  shown  to  be  upright.  Performer  now  "blows" 
upon  the  words  and  as  he  places  pack  in  front  of  mirror  again  he  asks 
his  Spectator  to  note  the  reflection.  This  time  the  Spectator  will 
find  the  word  "Choice" — is  still  vertical  and  upright,  but  that  the 
word  "Quality"  has  apparently  turned  upside-downl  Package  is  again 
removed  from  the  mirror,  and  the  words  are  again  displayed,  this  time 
both  of  them  being  upright  and  vertical  as  first  shown. 

EXPLANATION;  The  entire  trick  lies  in  the  letter  construction  of  the 
word,  "Choice."  The  first  time  the  pack  is  held  in  front  of  the  mirror 
the  reflection  will  be  both  vertical  and  upright  though  reversed.  The 
second  effect  is  obtained  by  turning  the  pack  over  in  your  hand,  and 
when  it  is  plf.ced  to  the  mirror  this  time:  the  word  "Quality"  will 
appear  upside-down,  and  the  word  "Choice"  while  actually  upside-down, 
due  to  its  peculiar  construction  appears  to  be  upright. 


TffF.  MYSTERIOUS  SUGAR  TRICK 

For  the  presentation  of  this  trick  you  require  several  pieces  of  lump 
sugar  and  a  glass  of  water.  The  sugar  you  smooth  down  by  rubbing  it 
over  a  piece  of  sandpaper. 

Request  someone  in  your  audience  to  place  a  mark  on  one  of  the  lumps  of 
sugar  and  to  make  this  mark  as  heavy  as  possible  with  an  ordinary  lead 
pencil.  Then  have  him  place  this  sugar  on  the  table  with  the  marked 
side  down  so  that  it  will  not  be  visible  to  anyone.  You  then  take  the 
sugar  and  drop  it  in  the  glass  of  water.  Have  your  voluntary  assistant 
place  both  hands  over  the  glass.  Inform  your  audience  that  you  are 
going  to  cause  the  mark  to  leave  the  sugar  and  appear  on  the  palm  of 
the  hand  of  the  person  whose  hands  cover  the  glass.  After  a  few  moments 
remove  the  hands  from  the  top  of  the  glass,  look  at  the  palm  and  to  the 
surprise  of  your  audience  the  mark  is  not  there.  You  then  look  further 
and  find  that  the  mark  passes  through  the  hand  and  is  found  in  the  top 
of  the  hand. 

EXPLANATION;  Slightly  moisten  the  ball  of  your  thumb  and  in  the  act  of 
picking  up  the  piece  of  sugar  from  the  table  and  dropping  it  into  the 
glass  of  water  you  get  an  impression  of  the  mark  on  the  sugar  by 
placing  the  ball  of  the  thumb  on  the  marked  side.  You  then  reproduce 
this  impression  on  the  top  of  the  right  hand  of  your  assistant  when  yeu 
help  him  in  the  act  of  placing  his  hands  over  the  glass.  Do  not  remove 


your  thumb  from  his  right  hand  until  you  have  placed  his  left  hand 
over  it  so  as  to  cover  up  the  impression  left  there.  Just  a  little 
rehearsal  and  this  trick  will  be  one  of  the  best  on  your  program. 


THE  STRING  AND  STRAW  TRICK 
By  Joseph  J.  Kolar 


\ 


This  is  one  of  those  baffling  mysteries  that  is  based  on  an  entirely 
new  principle.  It  has  completely  mystified  the  foremost  magicians  of 
the  country  and  one  of  the  greatest  magicians  was  so  Impressed  when 
he  himself  was  allowed  to  cut  the  string  and  do  the  restoring  while 
the  straw  and  string  was  held  in  his  hands,  that  he  announced  that  he 
was  completely  puzzled  and  offered  to  put  in  writing  the  fact  that 
this  was  the  most  baffling  as  well  as  the  neatest  effect  he  had  ever 
seen. 

EFFECT  NO.  j;  A  box  of  lemonade  or  soda  straws  are  offered  to  spectators 
from  which  he  chooses  one.  He  is  now  given  a  length  of  string  and 
asked  to  thread  it  through  the  straw  as  in  Fig.  1.  You  now  take  the 
straw  from  spectator  and  pull  string  back  and  forth  as  if  to  center  it, 
but  really  to  enable  you  to  locate  the  slot.  Next  grip  straw  and  string 
in  middle  of  slot  and  bend  as  in  Fig.  2.  Straw  is  then  held  so  top  of 
bend  is  flush  with  the  first  finger  as  in  Fig.  3.  Fingers  must  be  held 
close  together  to  conceal  next  move.  You  now  pull  on  either  one  or 
both  ends  of  string  as  if  trying  to  get  both  ends  even  and  in  doing  this 
you  pull  string  down  through  slot  as  in  Fig.  4. 


-5- 


Before  pulling  string,  be  sure  thumb  conceals  space  where  string  will 
stop  as  in  Fig.  5.  Straw  can  then  be  pushed  up  above  tops  of  fingers — 
spread  apart  a  bit  and  shown  freely  from  both  sides.  Now  you  wrap  a 
small  rubber  band  about  the  straw  as  if  to  keep  it  from  spreading,  but 
really  to  conceal  the  string — in  other  words  the  rubber  band  now  takes 
the  place  of  your  thumb  and  fingers  in  covering  string. 

In  this  fashion  you  are  perfectly  safe  in  deliberately  handing  the  straw 
to  the  spectator  and  asking  him  to  cut  the  straw  close  to  rubber  band. 
If  you  lack  confidence,  the  rubber  band  can  be  dispensed  with  and  you 
can  hold  straw  yourself.  The  straw  is  snipped  by  spectator  as  in  Fig. 
6.  Everyone  is  thoroughly  convinced  that  the  string  as  well  as  straw  is 
fairly  cut  in  two. 

You  now  hold  two  pieces  of  straw  as  "A"  and  "Bn  Fig.  6.  You  now  bring 
straws  "A"  and  "B"  together  as  in  Fig.  7.  If  spectator  holds  straws, 
you  of  course  move  straws  together  while  he  holds  them  as  if  to  show 
him  what  to  do.  Now  pull  string  back  and  forth  as  at  beginning  of  trick 
and  finally  remove  straw  "A"  and  then  "B" — Fig.  8,  and  show  string 
completely  restored,  Fig.  9. 

EFFECT  NO.  2;  Using  a  large  darning  needle  you  can  thread  a  red,  a 
white  and  a  blue  piece  of  silk  thread  through  straw.  Ask  spectator  to 
choose  one  color.  Chosen  color  is  pulled  down  using  same  tactics  as 
above,  and  when  straw  is  cut,  it  is  discovered  that  the  two  other 
colors  were  cut  along  with  the  straw  while  the  chosen  strand  is  restored. 
How  two  can  be  cut  without  cutting  the  chosen  strand  is  short  of 
marvelous . 

EFFECT  NO.  2:  Use  a  light  chain  and  a  pair  of  light  tinners'  snips  for 
effect  and  you  can  cut  and  restore  a  chain.  A  light,  flexible  wire  will 
work  equally  well. 

NOTE;  This  effect  appears  in  this  manuscript  by  special  permission  of 
Mr.  J.  J.  Kolar.  The  Kolar  Straw  Trick  has  been  sold  for  a  number  of 
years  for  fl.50. 


ANOTHER  STRAW  AND  STRING  TRICK 

This  additional  method  and  presentation  heightens  the  mystery  of  the 
Straw  and  String  trick  inasmuch  as  a  second  cutting  and  restoring  of  the 
string  takes  place. 

THE  EFFECT;  A  string  is  placed  through  an  ordinary  lemonade  straw  as 
in  the  original  Kolar  method  and  cut  and  restored  as  described  elsewhere 
in  this  issue.  Performer  now  takes  this  same  restored  string  and 
rethreads  another  straw,  requesting  another  spectator  to  cut  the  straw 
and  string  again  in  the  center,  but  this  time  the  cut  parts  ARE  HELD 
WIDE  APART—A  PORTION  IS  HELD  IN  EACH  HAND—  and  the  straw  and  string 
are  ACTUALLY  shown  to  be  cut  in  two  pieces.  Performer  now  brings  the 
two  ends  together  and  slowly  draws  the  string  through  the  straws  completel 
restored  1 

THE  METHOD;  Like  all  good  effects  the  method  is  very  simple.  The  string 
(which  may  also  be  used  for  the  original  method)  is  prepared  as  follows: 
The  ends  of  the  strings  are  dipped  Into  Rubber  Cement  (this  may  be 
purchased  at  any  art  supply  store) .  Let  the  cement  cover  about  one-half 


6- 


an  inch  of  each  end  of  the  thread.  This  must  be  allowed  to  dry 
thoroughly  which  will  take  about  one  hour.   It  will  be  wise  to  prepare 
about  a  dozen  strings  at  a  time  as  their  preparation  does  not 
deteriorate.  When  the  cement  is  thoroughly  dry  it  will  have  penetrated 
into  the  fibers  of  the  string  and  be  invisible  to  the  eye.  Care  must 
be  exercised,  however,  not  to  touch  the  ends  of  the  strings  with  the 
fingers  as  the  cement-impregnated  ends  pick  up  dirt  from  the  pores  of 
your  fingers.  Handle  the  string  from  the  center  or  near  center.  You 
will  also  find  th^t  the  prepared  ends  of  string  will  be  slightly  stiff 
which  will  facilitate  its  entry  into  the  straw.  Insert  the  string  as 
in  the  original  effect,  and  have  a  spectator  cut  straw  and  string  in  the 
center  as  you  hold  it  with  both  of  your  hands. 

Hold  one  portion  of  each  in  your  hands  drawing  hands  wide  apart  showing 
the  straw  and  string  to  be  actually  cut  in  two  pieces  1  Now,  as  you 
return  the  two  cut  parts  to  one  hand  reverse  the  ends  thus  bringing  the 
prepared  ends  together — (ala  rope  trick) — squeeze  the  two  prepared  ends 
tightly  together  with  your  thumb  and  forefinger,  allowing  the  smallest 
possible  over-lapping  of  the  ends.   (Not  more  than  one-eighth  of  an 
inch.) 

You  will  find  that  the  string  will  cement  itself  readily,  and  that  this 
aperture  will  be  invisable  to  the  eye.  Now  slowly  pull  this  restored 
and  cemented  string  through  the  two  pieces  of  straw  and  to  the  spectator' 
eye,  it  will  appear  again  as  the  whole  stringl  You  may  give  this  string 
a  good  stiff  tug  and  it  will  not  pull  apart.   It  will  be  found  that  if 
you  wrap  the  prepared  ends  of  your  string  in  waxed  paper — you  can  carry 
them  in  your  pocket  with  safety  against  the  afore-mentioned  trouble  of 
having  your  string  ends  pick  up  this  dirt,  which  makes  your  cemented 
spot  obvious. 


A  SIMPLE  EXPERIMENT  WITH  STATIC  ELECTRICITY 

An  ordinary  piece  of  newspaper  will  enable  you  to  perform  this 
experiment.  Take  this  newspaper  and  tear  it  into  strips  about  four 
Inches  wide  and  twelve  inches  long,  heat  it  lightly  so  as  to  expel  every 
trace  of  humidity.  This  done  rub  it  with  a  flannel  or  cloth,  although 
flannel  is  preferable,  or  you  can  also  use  the  palm  of  your  hand  if  it 
isdry.  Now  hold  the  flannel  near  the  paper  and  you  will  see  that  the 
former  is  attracted,  a  proof  that  the  two  bodies  are  charged  with  con- 
trary poles  of  electricity,  because  they  both  attracted  a  light  body  not 
electrified. 


Another  method  of  presentation  is  to  rub  the  newspaper  on  the  trouser 
and  then  hold  it  near  the  face  or  body  of  some  person  in  the  audience 
and  the  result  will  be  the  same. 


-7- 


You  can  verify  these  facts  very  simply.  When  the  paper  has  been 
rubbed,  tear  it  into  two  pieces  and  then  try  to  place  their  edges  to- 
gether. However,  since  both  are  charged  with  electricity  of  the  same 
pole,  they  will  repel  each  other.  Hold  a  pen  near  one  and  all  its 
electricity  will  escape  into  the  pen,  making  the  paper  quiver  slightly 
in  doing  so,  and  then,  being  no  longer  charged  with  electricity,  it 
will  be  attracted  by  the  other  piece  of  paper.  In  a  dark  room  an 
electric  spark  will  be  visible. 

Here  is  another  way  of  showing  that  the  paper  has  been  electrified  by 
friction.  Balance  a  pencil  on  the  edge  of  a  table.  If  you  will 
approach  it  with  the  paper  that  has  been  rubbed  you  will  see  the  pencil 
inclining  toward  it,  perhaps  losing  its  balance  and  falling. 


MYSTERIOUS  ASHES 

The  following  trick  is  one  of  the  most  effective  tricks  possible  for  the 
parlor  audience. 

The  performer  procures  from  ten  to  twenty  slips  of  paper.  These  he 
places  on  the  table  in  front  of  him.  He  then  requests  that  the  names 
of  ten  to  twenty  persons  present  shall  be  given  him,  and  as  these  names 
are  called  he  proceeds  to  write  them  down,  one  on  each  slip  of  paper. 
When  sufficient  number  of  names  are  received  these  slips  are  folded  and 
placed  in  an  empty  hat.  Some  member  of  your  audience  is  then  requested 
to  select  one  slip  from  the  hat — anyone  he  or  she  prefers. 

The  individual  who  has  taken  the  name  from  the  hat  is  now  requested  to 
open  the  slip,  note  the  name  that  Is  written  also  show  It  to  others  in 
the  audience,  and  then  to  kindly  take  a  match  and  burn  the  piece  of 
paper  on  which  the  name  is  written,  taking  care  to  save  the  ashes. 

The  ashes  are  then  brought  back  to  the  performer,  who  in  the  meantime, 
has  rolled  up  his  left  sleeve,  leaving  his  arm  bare  to  the  elbow.  He 
then  takes  the  ashes  In  his  right  hand,  rubs  them  up  «"d  down  a  few 
times  on  his  left  arm  and  in  a  short  time  the  name  that  was  on  the 
burned  slip  Is  seen  to  appear,  in  black  letters  on  his  bared  left  awn. 

EXPLANATION  First  of  all  the  performer  must  know  the  name  of  some 
person  in  the  audience.  He  now  sits  down  at  the  table,  and  as  certain 
names  are  called  out  he  apparently  writes  them  down  as  called  on  the 
slips  of  paper  that  he  has  provided,  but  really  he  writes  down  the  name 
of  someone  that  is  popular  in  the  audience,  so  that  this  name  is  almost 
certain  to  be  mentioned.  However  if  it  is  not  the  performer  says  to 
certain  persons,  "Now,  sir,  may  I  have  your  name?"  or  "I  am  sure  that 
you  will  allow  me  to  use  your  name."  After  repeating  this  several 
times  he  says  the  same  thing  to  the  person  whose  name  he  has  been 
writing  on  the  slips  of  paper.  He  folds  up  each  slip  of  paper  as  It  is 
written  upon,  all  are  then  placed  in  the  hat  and  one  selected  by  some- 
one in  the  audience.  It  is  burned  as  directed  and  the  ashes  rubbed  on 
the  arm,  the  name  then  appears.  This  is  done  by  the  performer 
preparing  before  the  commencement  of  the  trick  by  taking  a  yellow  piece 
of  soap  and  using  it  as  a  pencil  to  write  the  name  of  the  person  (which 
he  is  to  write)  on  his  left  arm.  A  name  thus  written  is  Invisible  to 
the  audience,  but  when  the  ashes  are  rubfeed  upon  it  the  letters 
gradually  appear  in  a  truly  startling  manner. 


8- 


THE  CHINESE  COIN  TRICK 

Two  Chinese  coins  or  two  iron  washers  with  a  hole  in  the  center  are 
used,  or  if  desired  you  may  use  small  metal  rings,  one  of  these 
washers  being  concealed  between  the  second  and  lower  Joints  of  the 
second  and  third  fingers  of  the  right  hand.  After  the  other  washer 
has  been  placed  on  the  *ring  and  the  latter  been  given  to  a  spectator 
to  hold,  the  performer  places  both  hands  on  the  middle  of  the  string, 
thus  hiding  the  washer  thereon  entirely  from  view,  and  while  talking, 
with  the  right  hand  substitutes  his  washer  for  the  other.  He  then 
takes  a  portion  of  the  string  and  pushes  it  upwards  through  the  center 
of  the  washer,  as  illustrated  in  the  diagrams. 


This  portion  of  the  string  is  then  looped  over  the  back  of  the  washer 
and  the  string  tightened  by  the  performer,  who  now  allows  this  washer 
to  come  into  view,  while  the  left  hand  is  still  held  over  the  original 
washer.  Drawing  both  hands  outwards  towards  the  ends  of  the  string, 
the  performer  requests  the  person  to  release  the  string  for  an  Instant, 
immediately  replacing  the  ends  of  the  string  in  the  person's  hands. 
This  slight  interlude  seems  to  be  entirely  incidental,  but  is  necessary, 
because  it  enables  the  performer  to  secretly  withdraw  the  original  washer 
from  the  string.  With  the  same  hand  in  which  this  is  concealed,  the 
performer  reaches  into  his  pocket  and  pulls  out  a  handkerchief,  at  the 
same  time  leaving  the  palmed  washer  in  the  pocket.  The  handkerchief  is 
then  placed  over  the  center  of  the  string  with  the  left  hand,  the  right 
hand  reaching  under  the  handkerchief  and  disengaging  the  loop  from  the 
washer,  freeing  same.  The  freed  washer  Is  then  exhibited  and  examination 
of  everything  invited. 


THE  PHANTOM  RING 

TEE  EFFECT;  A  new  and  puzzling  trick  easy  to  perform.  A  solid  ring  of 
metal  is  handed  for  thorough  inspection.  After  this,  the  performer's 
wrists  ?.re  securely  tied  with  any  cord  or  ribbon,  the  knots  being  sealed 
or  sewed  if  desired.  Having  seized  the  ring,  the  performer  turns  his 
back  to  the  audience.  On  facing  the  company  again  a  second  later,  the 
ring  is  found  on  the  cord  or  ribbon,  while  the  wrists  are  securely  tied 
and  sealed.  Everything  may  «aln  be  thoroughly  examined. 

THE  SECRET;  Procure  from  a  convienent  ten  cents  store  two  large  size 
ladys1  bracelets,  the  type  that  are  made  of  celluloid  or  bakelite.  The 
secret  of  this  trick  is  simplicity  itself.  Two  rings  are  required, 
through  one  of  which  the  hand  is  slipped  previous  to  the  trick,  after 
which  the  ring  is  pushed  along  the  forearm  and  hidden  under  the  coat 
sleeve.  The  second  ring  is  shown  and  examined  by  the  audience  after 
which  the  performer's  hands  are  tied,  a  space  of  a  foot  or  more  of  rope 


-9- 


left  between  both  hands.  He  then  seizes  the  examined  ring  in  one 
hand  and  turning  around  for  an  instant,  drops  this  ring  into  a  con- 
venient pocket  or  pushes  it  under  the  vest  and  next  draws  the  second 
ring  from  its  hiding  place  and  slides  it  on  the  rope,  where  it  is 
discovered  by  the  company  when  he  turns  around  again  an  instant  later. 
The  effect  created  is,  that  the  examined  ring  has  by  some  mysterious 
means  been  conjured  on  the  rope. 


A  SMASHED  WATCH  SURPRISE 

This  is  a  little  novelty  particularly  suited  to  the  parlor  performer 
in  a  friendly  gathering  or  a  party.  Its  effect  is  exceedingly  good  and 
startling,  especially  if  it  is  introduced  at  a  moment  when  everybody  is 
more  or  less  merry.  The  idea  is  to  offer  amusement  to  the  bulk  of  the 
guests  at  the  expense  of  one  of  their  number. 

Having  selected  your  victim,  one  you  know  to  be  in  possession  of  a 
valuable  watch,  you  go  up  to  him  and  ask  him  to  be  kind  enough  to  allow 
you  to  inspect  the  valuable  chronometer  of  which  you  have  been  given  to 
understand  that  he  is  the  fortunate  owner.  He  will  acquiesce  quite 
readily  and  you  will  probably  also  be  able  to  Induce  him  to  remove  the 
watch  from  its  chain  for  closer  examination.  Anyway,  this  must  be  done 
if  the  surprise  is  to  be  carried  out. 

If  successful  so  far,  you  tke  the  watch  in  your  right  hand,  having  in 
the  meantime  secured  and  palmed  a  bunch  of  keys  in  your  left  hand.  You 
are  looking  intently  at  the  watch  as  it  lays  in  the  palm  of  your  right 
hand,  then  suddenly  (but  do  not  let  there  be  any  suggestion  of  hurry) 
seem  to  place  it  in  your  left  hand;  the  watch  is,  of  course,  palmed  or 
rather  held  securely  by  a  contraction  of  the  fingers  in  the  right  hand 
and  at  the  precise  moment  that  the  left  hand  closes  over  the  bunch  of 
keys. 

The  left  hand  then  and  forthwith  throws  its  contents,  presumably  the 
watch,  violently  to  the  floor,  the  crash  created  by  their  fall  so  much 
resembling  that  of  a  watch  smashed  to  atoms  that  your  victim  is,  for 
the  moment,  well  and  nigh  ready  to  collapse  in  a  dead  faint.  But  and 
almost  before  he  can  realize  that  a  joke  has  been  played  upon  him,  by 
discovering  the  keys  on  the  floor,  you  quietly  insert  your  right  hand 
in  your  pocket  and  produce  his  watch,  handing  it  back  to  him  with  a 
polite  "Ibeg  your  pardon." 


FUNKY  FIGURES 

Put  down  the  number  of  your  living  brothers.  Multiply  by  two.  Add 
three.  Multiply  the  result  by  five.  Add  the  number  of  living  sisters. 
Multiply  the  result  by  ten.  Add  the  number  of  dead  brothers  and  sisters, 
Subtract  one  hundred  and  fifty  from  the  .result.  The  right-hand  figure 
will  be  the  number  of  deaths.  The  middle  figure  will  be  the  number  of 
living  sisters.  The  left-hand  figure  will  be  the  number  of  living 
brothers.  Some  arithmetical  puzzle  in  the  form  of  riddle  are  rather 
clever.  It  would  seem  impossible  by  any  process  of  subtraction  to  take 
forty-five  from  forty-five  and  still  have  forty-five  left;  but  it  can 
be  done  thus:  987,664,321     equals  45 

125,456,769     equals  45 

864,197,532     equals  45 


-10-  A  DICTIONARY  TRICK 

Bring  forward  a  dictionary  and  a  number  of  small  pieces  of  paper; 
the  performer  invite-s  the  audience  to  satisfy  themselves  that  the 
dictionary  is  without  preparation,  and  that  the  papers  are  quite 
blank.  These  latter  are  distributed  among  the  audience  with  the 
request  that  they  write  upon  them  any  word  they  may  choose,  upon 
condition  that  such  word  shall  be  contained  In  the  dictionary. 
This  is  done  and  the  papers  are  folded  and  collected  in  a  borrowed 
hat.  The  performer  takes  a  handful  of  papers  and  one  is  selected 
by  a  spectator;  this  is  opened  and  the  word  thereon  is  called  out. 
After  a  moment's  thought  the  performer  proclaims  by  word  of  mouth, 
or  in  writing  upon  a  blackboard,  the  page,  column  and  position  down 
that  column,  occupied  by  the  chosen  word.  The  dictionary  is  opened 
at  the  page  indicated,  and  upon  counting  the  words  down  the  specified 
column  his  assertions  are  found  absolutely  correct. 

The  experienced  reader  has,  no  doubt,  already  guessed  the  solution. 
While  collecting  the  papers  in  the  hat,  the  performer  secretly  palms 
some  half  a  dozen  folded  papers  of  his  own,  upon  each  of  which  he 
has  previously  written  any  word  his  fancy  may  suggest.  When  he  dips 
his  hand  into  the  hat  and  apparently  withdraws  a  handful  of  papers 
therefrom,  he  really  substitutes  those  contained  in  his  palm,  and 
accordingly  no  matter  which  paper  is  selected  that  it  can  bear  only 
one  word,  viz.:  the  one  he  has  himself  written.  Knowing  this  and 
having  previously  ascertained  its  position  in  the  dictionary,  it  re- 
quires no  great  effort  on  his  part  to  bring  the  trick  to  a  successful 
termination. 


SOLID  THROUGH  SOLID.  POCKET  EDITION 

This  novel  trick  consists  of  two  items:  a  small  safety  pin  and  a 
toothpick.  The  toothpick  is  placed  on  the  small  bar  of  the  safety 
pin  and  should  remain  about  half  way  between  the  two  ends  of  the 
pin. 

Now  snap  the  loose  end  of  the  pin  into  place  and  hold  the  pin  tightly 
at  one  end  between  the  thumb  and  uppermost  side  of  the  first  finger 
near  the  center  Joint  in  the  left  hand,  the  thumb  being  on  top. 

The  pin  is  held  in  a  flat,  horizontal  position  with  its  free  end 
pointing  almost  directly  to  the  right.  With  the  pin  held  in  this 
position,  the  toothpick  threaded  on  the  bar  should  be  on  the  side  that 
is  farthest  from  you,  and  the  end  of  the  toothpick  that  is  uppermost 
should  be  turned  toward  you  until  it  rests  directly  down  on  the  top  of 
the  pin  bar  that  is  nearest  to  you. 

Now  with  your  right  hand  held  uppermost,  and  with  the  fingers  slightly 
curled  inward,  bring  the  hand  down  rather  sharply  and  with  a  slight 
force  so  that  the  underside  of  the  right  first  finger  comes  in  contact 
with  the  toothpick  and  at  the  same  time  drawing  back  the  hand  with  a 
sort  of  sliding  off  movement  toward  yourself. 

If  you  will  follow  these  movements  several  times  you  will  find  that  the 
toothpick  will  appear  to  actually  pass  entirely  through  the  solid  bar 
of  the  safety  pin. 

What  really  happens  however  is  that  by  reason  of  the  sudden  downward 
flip  of  the  right  hand  against  the  toothpick,  combined  with  the 
peculiar  spring  resistance  of  the  safety  pin,  the  toothpick  is  caused 


to  undergo  an  instantaneous  half  turn  in  the  opposite  direction; 
the  effect  being  exactly  as  if  the  toothpick  actually  penetrated 
the  metal  bar  of  the  safety  pin. 

This  idea  is  rather  difficult  to  describe,  but  a  few  trials  will  be 
sure  to  result  in  a  speedy  accomplishment  of  the  neat  and  clever 
deception,  and  you  will  soon  be  able  to  apparently  flip  the  tooth- 
pick back  and  forth  through  the  pin  in  rapid  succession. 


-11- 


THE  UP-TO-DATE  PAPER  TEARING  TRICK 


The  advantages  that  this  paper  tearing  trick  has  over  the  ordinary 
paper  tearing  tricks  will  at  once  become  apparent.  The  method  is  so 
simple  that  anyone  can  perform  it  a  moment  after  reading  the  instruc- 
tions, and  the  effect  is  nothing  short  of  marvelous,  as  the  paper 
never  leaves  one's  sight.  Special  attention  should  be  called  to  this 
latter  point  when  performing. 

To  prepare,  cut  a  number  of  strips  of  tissue  paper  of  a  size  such  as 
you  wish  to  use  or  as  suits  your  own  individual  needs  best.  Lay  one 
strip  of  tissue  on  the  table,  and  near  one  end,  as  shown  in  the 
illustration,  place  a  small  dab  of  glue.  On  this  place  a  duplicate 
sheet  of  tissue,  and  press  firmly  at  the  point  where  it  is  glued  to 
insure  proper  adhesion.  When  the  glue  is  dry,  roll  the  tissue  into  a 
small  ball,  starting  at  the  bottom.  The  result  will  be  a  strip  of 
tissue  paper  with  a  ball  of  tissue  fastened  to  it  as  shown  in  Figure 
2.  It  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  audience  is  not  supposed  to  know  of  the  existence  of  the  concealed 
ball,  as  it  is  upon  this  concealed  ball  that  the  successful  termination 
of  the  trick  depends.  Pick  up  the  strip  of  paper  with  the  ball  to  the 
rear,  and  with  both  of  the  palms  held  outward  and  the  fingers  wide 
apart.  While  showing  the  hands,  pass  the  paper  back  and  forth  from  one 
hand  to  the  other.  Now  take  the  paper  in  the  left  hand  and  covering 
the  ball  with  the  thumb,  show  both  sides  of  the  paper,  as  shown  in 
Figure  3.  Tear  the  paper  into  about  four  pieces,  as  in  Figure  4,  and 
place  all  these  together  and  tear  again,  as  in  Figure  5.  Now  place  all 
the  torn  pieces  in  front  of  the  piece  with  the  ball  attached,  as  shown 
in  Figure  6.  Wrap  the  torn  pieces  in  this  rear  piece.  The  result  will 
be  that  you  now  have  two  balls  of  paper,  one  consisting  of  the  torn 
pieces  and  the  other  of  the  whole  strip  of  paper,  and  held  together  by 
the  glue  as  shown  in  Figure  7.  Press  these  together  and  show  as.  one 


2- 

ball,  and  secretly  turn  the  whole  paper  towards  the  audience,  and 
calling  their  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  paper  does  not  leave 
their  sight  for  an  Instant.  All  that  now  remains  Is  to  unfold  the 
ball  of  whole  paper  so  that  the  torn  pieces  will  be  concealed  behind 
it  as  was  the  other  ball  in  Figure  2.  To  all  appearances  the  paper 
is  now  restored  as  at  first.  Again  show  both  hands,  covering  the 
ball  of  torn  pieces  with  the  thumb  and  again  show  both  sides  of  the 
paper . 

In  arranging  patter  for  this  trick,  we  would  suggest  that  you  mention 
the  wonderful  qualities  of  a  certain  Chinese  paper  and  what  magicians 
have  discovered  about  it.  Sleeves  may  be  rolled  up  while  performing, 
and  with  care,  a  spectator  may  be  allowed  to  hold  the  performers 
wrists.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  trick,  roll  the  paper  Into  a  ball 
and  pocket  it  in  an  apparently  careless  manner.  Paper  should  be  of  a 
dark  color  and  no  light  should  shine  from  behind.  A  good  plan  is  to 
mark  the  paper  with  Chinese  characters  in  black  ink,  as  these  serve  to 
cover  the  shadow  of  the  ball.  It  also  adds  to  the  effect.  It  is 
advisable  to  use  the  best  grade  of  paper  obtainable,  as  it  is  more 
opaque . 


AN  ADDITION  TO  THE  UP-TO-DATE  PAPER  TEARING  TRICK 
THE  FAKE  EXPOSURE 

This  feature  Is  really  what  makes  this  trick  one  of  the  classics  in 
Magic,  and  a  feature  which  is  always  enjoyed  by  an  audience. 
Violating  one  of  the  cardinal  principles  in  Magic,  never  to  repeat  a 
trick  and  then  to  explain  the  method  of  performing  the  trick,  the 
beauty  and  effectiveness  of  this  trick  is  enhanced  when  the  expose 
method  is  presented.  This  method  is  very  simple,  but  like  all  good 
tricks  the  very  simplicity  is  what  makes  it  great.  To  present  the 
trick  In  this  form  it  is  necessary  to  employ  the  one  additional  fake 
or  prepared  paper  and  one  single  unprepared  sheet  of  the  same  size 
and  color  of  the  prepared  sheets.  Have  two  of  the  fakes  prepared,  one 
is  placed  on  the  table  with  the  fake  on  the  under  side  and  the  single 
sheet  laid  across  same.  Over  this  place  your  other  prepared  piece  of 
paper  ready  to  use.  First  present  the  trick  in  the  usual  form  and 
then  offer  to  explain  how  it  is  done.  Pick  up  the  single  sheet  , 
showing  it  on  all  sides  and  explain  that  the  trick  is  performed  by 
rolling  this  paper  Into  a  small  wad  and  then  held  palmed  in  the  left 
hand.  Show  the  wad,  and  that  there  Is  absolutely  nothing  else  In 
either  hand.  State  that  of  course  this  should  not  be  shown  to  the 
audience,  but  held  in  this  manner.  Now  pick  up  the  other  sheet  and 
proceed  to  tear  in  the  usual  way,  having  torn  and  rolled  it  into  a 
small  ball,  you  explain  that  the  secret  of  the  trick  is  in  the  exchange 
or  switch  of  the  papers.  While  explaining  this,  make  the  exchange 
very  openly  and  in  such  a  manner  that  the  spectators  can  plainly  see 
that  there  is  no  deception  in  this  part,  having  placed  the  torn  pieces 
in  the  left  hand  and  substituted  the  palmed  ball.  Of  course  nothing 
is  simpler  than  to  unroll  the  duplicate  ball  and  show  that  it  is 
restored.  Up  to  this  point  the  audience  has  followed  you  very  closely 
and  apparently  caught  on  to  the  extreme  simplicity  of  the  trick.  Now 
comes  the  knockout.  Explain  further  that  as  has  been  said  before,  you 
must  never  let  them  know  of  the  duplicate  palmed  ball,  in  the  left  hand 
which  is  switched  for  the  torn  pieces,  and  least  of  all  never,  never 
forget  yourself  so  far  as  to  unroll  the  duplicate  ball  (which  you  in 
the  meantime  actually  do)  and  as  it  is  opened  and  shown  to  be  restored 
and  which  is  done  in  the  original  presentation,  you  state  that  in  case 
you  should  do  this  you  would  of  course  give  the  trick  away  or  (as  the 
paper  is  now  shown  completely  restored)  you  would  find  that  you  don't 
know  as  much  about  the  trick  now  as  you  did  before  I  explained  it  to  you. 


THE  UNCANNY  CIGARETTE  PAPERS  -13- 

NO.  1;  Performer  rolls  two  cigarette  papers  Into  as  many 


sails  and  places  them  on  the  table;  taking  up  one  of  the  paper  balls 
between  the  Index  finger  and  thumb  of  the  right  hand,  drops  it  into 
the  empty  left  hand,  which  is  then  immediately  closed.  The  remaining 
paper  ball  is  now  taken  from  the  table  with  the  right  hand  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  first,  only,  this  time  it  is  cast  away  (?)  .  A 
cigarette  which  the  performer  has  been  smoking  is  removed  from  the 
mouth,  by  the  right  hand,  a  cloud  of  smoke  is  blown  on  the  left  hand, 
which,  on  being  opened,  is  seen  to  contain  tooth  paper  balls.  This 
effect  is  better  for  being  repeated  four  or  five  times  before  per- 
forming Effect  No.  2. 

EFFECT  NO.  2t  One  of  the  two  paper  balls  laying  on  the  table  at  the 
termination  of  the  previous  effect  is  taken  up  by  the  performer  and 
straightened  out;  it  is  thus  held  in  the  right  hand  between  the  thumb 
and  index  finger  where  it  is  exhibited,  more  for  the  purpose  of  allowing 
both  hands  and  to  be  seen  than  that  of  displaying  the  paper.  It  is  now 
taken  between  the  index  finger  and  thumb  of  both  hands  and  torn  in  two, 
one  piece  being  placed  on  the  other,  it  is  again  torn,  making  in  all 
four  pieces;  these  are  crushed,  or  rather  rolled  into  a  ball  by  the 
finger  and  thumb,  where  it  is  again  exhibited  and  the  hands  seen  other- 
wise empty,  the  paper  ball  is  straightened  out  and  exhibited  restored. 

EXPLANATION  NO.  1;  The  secret  lies  in  the  manipulation  of  a  third  ball 
which  the  performer  holds  secreted  between  the  first  joints  of  the 
index  and  second  finger  of  the  right  hand.  The  cigarette  when  removed 
from  the  mouth  and  held  between  the  thumb  and  fingers  conceals  the 
secreted  ball  from  inquisitive  eyes,  and  allows  the  hand  to  be  held  in 
a  more  exposed  position  than  would  otherwise  be  permitted. 

With  cigarette  in  mouth  and  the  secreted  ball  in  position  the  performer 
commences  by  taking  two  cigarette  papers  and  rolling  them  into  balls. 
How  in  the  act  of  placing  one  ball  in  the  left  hand  the  secreted  ball 
is  also  deposited,  the  hand  being  immediately  closed,  though  without 
undue  haste;  the  second  ball  is  now  taken  from  the  table,  the  per- 
former removing  his  cigarette,  for  the  apparent  reason  of  blowing  some 
smoke  on  the  left  hand,  but,  really  for  the  purpose  of  concealing  the 
ball,  which,  instead  of  being  thrown  away,  was  retained  in  position  by 
the  first  and  second  finger,  ready  to  be  completely  hidden  by  the 
cigarette,  thus  allowing  the  performer  after  revealing  the  two  papers 
in  the  left  hand  to  repeat  the  effect. 

EXPLANATION  NO.  2;  With  a  ball  of  paper  concealed  by  the  cigarette  as 
at  termination  of  effect  number  one,  the  performer  disposes  of  his 
cigarette  entirely,  and  taking  up  one  of  the  two  balls  from  the  table, 
straightens  it  out,  and  exhibits  it,  at  the  same  tine  using  it  to 
conceal  the  secreted  ball;  he  now  tears  the  exhibited  paper  into  four 
pieces  and  rolls  it  into  a  ball  again,  pressing  the  two  balls 
together  between  the  finger  and  thumb  of  the  right  hand  he  exhibits 
them  together  as  one  only,  then,  rolling  the  ball  comprised  of  the 
pieces  into  the  place  of  temporary  secretion  from  whence  the  good  ball 
came,  the  latter  he  proceeds  to  unroll,  encountering  a  little  difficulty 
in  unravelling  the  ball  he  resorts  to  moistening  first  the  index  finger 
of  the  left  hand  and  a  little  while  after  the  same  finger  of  the  right 
hand,  the  act  allowing  the  secret  disposal  of  the  ball  of  pieces  by 
depositing  them  in  the  mouth,  from  where  they  can  be  removed  some  time 
afterwards. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  DEAD 
A  sheet  of  borrowed  paper  is  taken  and  then  torn  into  a  number  of 


14- 

strips.  These  strips  are  distributed  among  your  audience  with  the 
request  that  all  but  one  person  write  the  names  of  some  living 
person  on  the  slips,  and  on  the  remaining  slip  the  name  of  some  dead 
person  is  to  be  written.  The  spectators  then  are  requested  to  fold 
their  slips  several  times  to  conceal  the  writing  within,  and  place 
them  all  on  the  table,  or  in  a  borrowed  hat,  all  to  be  well  mixed. 

The  performer  now  advances  to  the  table  or  hat  and  turning  his  back 
picks  out  the  strip  bearing  the  name  of  the  dead  person  and  the  name 
is  dramatically  called  out  with  amazing  correctness.  The  strip  is 
then  opened  and  the  name  verified. 

No  preparation  is  necessary  whatever  to  perform  this  remarkable 
effect,  and  it  is  independent  of  time  or  place,  two  facts  which  can 
be  said  of  very  few  feats.  One  person  is  selected  from  the  company 
to  take  active  part  in  the  experiment.  He  is  requested  to  obtain  a 
full  sheet  of  his  own  letter  paper.  The  performer  with  a  pencil 
draws  lines  dividing  the  sheet  into  six  divisions,  nearly  equal.  He 
then  informs  the  person  that  after  the  writing  is  done,  the  paper  is 
to  be  torn  off  on  the  lines  into  separate  slips,  and  each  slip  folded 
three  times.  To  illustrate  the  method,  the  performer  folds  the  sheet 
over  on  the  first  line,  creasing  it,  the  better  to  tear  it  off,  which 
he  then  folds  in  half  three  successive  times. 

The  performer  now  announces  that  he  will  step  away  and  turn  his  back 
to  avoid  the  possibility  of  his  seeing  what  is  written.   (He  has 
casually  retained  the  sample  slip  which  he  folded,  either  placing  it 
in  his  trousers  pocket  or  retaining  "it  concealed  between  the  fork  of 
the  thumb.  The  existence  of  this  slip  will  soon  be  forgotten  by  the 
audience,  who  are  taken  up  by  the  instructions  which  the  performer 
gives  to  the  person  writing.) 

The  person  is  now  Instructed  to  wite  the  names  of  four  living  persons, 
any  friends  or  anyone  he  may  happen  to  think  of.  This  leaves  but  one 
remaining  space,  the  one  at  the  bottom  of  the  sheet,  in  which  he  is 
instructed  to  write  the  name  of  a  dead  person.  He  is  then  directed 
to  tear  off  the  slips  and  fold  them  as  previously  instructed.  All  of 
the  folded  slips  containing  the  names  of  living  persons  will  have  two 
rough  edges,  from  the  fact  that  the  edges  were  all  made  by  tearing. 
The  last  slip,  the  one  containing  the  names  of  the  dead  person,  will 
have  but  one  rough  edge,  and  the  original  smooth  bottom  edge  of  the 
paper  will  distinguish  it  from  the  others.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  performer  used  the  first  slip  in  demonstrating  the  method  of 
folding,  thus  disposing  of  the  other  smooth  edge. 

When  the  folding  has  been  completed,  the  person  leaves  all  the  slips 
upon  the  table,  and  of  course,  it  is  an  easy  matter  for  the  performer 
to  locate  the  slip  containing  the  name  of  the  dead  person,  which  he 
will  find  no  difficulty  in  picking  out  even  though  his  back  be  turned. 

Instead  of  picking  out  this  slip  first,  it  is  advisable  to  pick  up 
one  of  the  others.  You  stand  with  your  back  to  the  table,  with  the 
company  also  behind  you  and  you  must  be  deliberate  in  your  movements. 
Picking  up  a  slip  containing  a  living  name,  the  performer  slowly  brings 
it  around  in  front  of  him,  and  then  he  raises  it  to  a  point  a  few 
inches  above  his  head.  Then,  as  though  talking  to  the  spirits,  asks — 
"Is  this  person  living  or  dead — living?  Yes."  The  hand  is  lowered 
slowly  and  the  slip  returned  to  the  table,  without,  however,  confirming 
the  statement  as  to  whether  or  not  it  is  a  living  person. 


tore  off  to  demonstrate  the  folding.  While  slowly  bringing  around 
the  dead  slip,  it  is  quickly  exchanged  for  the  blank  slip,  which  is 
raised  above  the  head  as  before.  This  exchange  is  very  simple.  It 
may  sound  crude,  but  it  is  never  suspected.  While  addressing  the 
spirits,  etc.,  you  quickly  unfold  the  dead  slip,  ascertain  the  name 
and  fold  it  up  again.  The  name  is  then  apparently  "read"  one  letter 
at  a  time,  and  finally  the  full  name  announced.  It  is,  of  course,  an 
easy  matter  to  exchange  the  slips,  when  the  one  actually  containing 
the  name  of  the  dead  person  is  handed,  still  folded,  to  the  person 
who  wrote  it,  who  may  then  verify  your  statement. 


THE  CUT  AND  RESTORED  RIBBON  TRICK 

Procure  a  piece  of  ribbon,  thirty-six  Inches  long  and  one  inch  wide. 
This  should  be  a  silk  ribbon.  Cut  the  eighteen- inch  length  into 
pieces  two  and  one  half  inches  long.  Sew  the  ends  of  these  pieces 
together  forming  a  loop.  The  only  preparation  needed  for  this  trick  is 
to  run  the  ribbon  through  one  of  the  loops  and  place  it  on  the  table, 
somewhere  where  the  loop  will  not  be  seen  by  your  audience. 

PRESENTATION;  Pick  up  the  ribbon  holding  the  loop  between  the  thumb  and 
second  finger  of  the  left  hand,  the  palm  of  the  hand  toward  you,  the 
front  of  the  hand  toward  your  audience.  Place  one  end  of  the  ribbon 
between  the  first  and  second  fingers.  Pull  one  end  and  then  the  other 
through  the  fingers  several  times  as  if  you  are  trying  to  find  the 
center  of  the  ribbon.  When  you  think  this  effect  is  had,  stop  about 
the  center  and  grasp  the  fake  loop  at  the  top  with  the  fingers  of  the 
right  hand  pulling  it  up  a  trifle,  Just  enough  so  that  you  «an  grasp 
the  part  of  the  loop  where  it  Joins  the  ribbon  between  the  thumb  and 
first  finger,  dropping  the  two  ends  of  the  ribbon  away  from  the  hand. 
You  can  now  show  the  hand  and  ribbon  from  all  sides  as  the  fake  part  is 
hidden  between  the  thumb  and  first  finger  of  the  left  hand  giving  the 
appearance  of  only  one  piece  of  ribbon  folded  in  the  center.  If  these 
movements  are  thoroughly  blended  together  they  will  create  the  impres- 
sion that  all  that  you  have  done  is  to  gther  up  the  ribbon  by  its 
center  to  form  a  loop  and  this  loop  you  cut  with  a  pair  of  scissors  and 
while  cutting  hold  firmly  to  the  loop  so  that  it  will  not  pull  out  from 
between  your  fingers.  Cut  away  as  much  as  possible  of  the  fake  loop 
and  then  again  place  one  end  of  the  ribbon  between  the  first  and  second 
fingers  as  before  bunching  up  the  ribbon  between  the  first  and  second 
fingers  where  it  has  apparently  been  cut  away.  A  few  magic  passes  and 
you  again  draw  the  ribbon  through  the  fingers  and  finally  pass  it  out 
for  examination. 


MENS  RB7ELO 

The  secret  of  this  effect  lies  in  the  envelope  which  is  given  out  with 
a  slip  of  paper.  This  envelope  is  prepared  to  receive  a  carbon 
impression  within  it.  Prepare  envelopes  in  the  following  manner: 
Cut  away  the  entire  back  of  the  envelope.  This  leaves  you  one  piece 
which  is  the  front  of  the  envelope  and  the  flap.  Trim  the  three  edges 
of  the  front  of  the  envelope  slightly.  Insert  this  into  another 
envelope.  Now  between  the  envelope  and  the  fake  piece,  place  a  piece 
of  the  thinnest  carbon  paper.  You  now  seal  the  two  flaps  together. 
The  prepared  envelope  is  apparently  empty  with  the  exception  of  a  slip 
of  paper  upon  which  the  spectator  is  to  write  the  question. 

Prepare  three  envelopes  as  described  above  and  in  one  put  an  extra  slip 
of  paper.  Place  these  three  prepared  envelopes  on  top  of  four  unprepared 
envelopes  and  fact  these  envelopes  in  the  opposite  direction  to  the 
three  on  top.  The  envelope  containing  the  two  papers  is  second  from 
top. 


•1 6— 

Open  one  of  the  envelopes  and  draw  out  a  slip  of  paper  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  inside  can  be  seen,  and  placing  the  paper  on  back  of 
envelope,  place  it  in  party's  left  hand  and  a  hard  pencil  in  his 
right  hand,  with  instructions  for  writing.  Then  remove  one  of  the 
papers  from  that  envelope,  which  contains  two  papers,  and  place  paper 
and  envelope  in  the  hands  of  a  party  just  one  seat  removed.  Then 
leave  these  parties  and  instruct  a  third  party  in  preparing  a  writing, 
watching  the  first  two  so  that  the  moment  they  turn  their  papers  over 
as  instructed,  you  will  know  they  are  finished.  Return  and  explain 
that  care  must  be  taken  in  folding  papers  Just  as  I  instruct.  Taking 
the  first  party's  envelope,  remark,  "I  had  an  extra  paper  in  one  of 
these  envelopes  to  show  the  method  of  folding"  (looking  in  envelope 
quickly,  then  taking  second  party's  envelope,  you  of  course  find  the 
paper)  and  remark,  "Ah,  hereit  is,  I  will  show  you  with  this,"  You 
place  pile  of  envelopes  (which  has  the  two  prepared  ones  on  top, 
remember)  under  arm  in  a  natural  manner  to  give  the  hands  more  free- 
dom in  folding  paper.  After  folding  paper  take  envelopes  from  under 
arm,  but  with  the  pile  reversed;  that  is,  with  the  unprepared  en- 
velopes on  top,  and  opening  the  uppermost  envelope,  slip  the  blank 
paper  inside  Just  to  illustrate  your  instructions  for  placing  papers 
in  envelopes.  Then  hurriedly  hand  the  two  upper  envelopes  to  the 
parties  and  hurry  off  to  the  third  party.  Thus  you  have  exchanged  the 
envelopes  in  a  manner  that  even  the  initiated  cannot  detect;  absolu- 
tely no  sleights  or  "moves" — only  the  most  natural  actions  followed. 

The  method  with  the  third  party  is  generally  shorter,  merely  taking 
the  envelope  for  a  moment  to  illustrate  the  method  of  folding  and  to 
relieve  the  party  of  the  envelope.  Rest  your  hand  holding  the 
envelope  on  top  of  the  pile  and  no  matter  which  way  paper  is  folded, 
pretend  it  is  wrong  and  have  it  refolded,  and  while  gesticulating  with 
right  hand,  drop  the  other  hand  to  side  and  quietly  turn  packet  over, 
so  when  you  hand  party  envelope  from  top  of  packet,  he  receives  an 
unprepared  one.  At  the  first  opportunity  ascertain  the  question  in 
the  prepared  envelope. 

This  method  is  many  times  superior  to  any  known  test  for  downright 
practical  results.  The  practical  performer  desires  quick,  absolutely 
certain  results  with  all  the  sleights  and  elaborations  cut  out  and 
the  practical,  certain  method  well  planned  out,  described  above  will 
be  appreciated  by  the  professional,  and,  we  hope,  by  the  amateur  as 
well. 


THE  CIGARETTE  FROM  NOWHEPF 

EFFECT;  The  performer  shows  his  hands  empty  and  pretends  to  remove 
a  package  of  cigarette  papers  from  the  pocket  and  making  believe  to 
take  one  of  the  tissues  from  the  imaginary  package.  In  pantomine  form 
he  then  pretends  to  replace  the  package  of  papers  in  his  pocket,  reach 
for  his  bag  of  "Bull  Durham"  he  pantomines  the  shaking  of  the  "making 
onto  the  paper  in  accordance  with  the  proper  technique  of  "rolling 
your  own."  After  the  make  believe  cigarette  has  been  properly  con- 
structed, same  is  placed  in  the  mouth,  match  is  removed  from  a  box  of 
safety  matches,  hands  are  again  shown  empty,  match  is  struck  and 
applied  to  the  phantom  cigarette,  and,  lo  and  behold,  a  cigarette  is 
seen  between  the  lips  which  is  being  smoked  by  the  performer. 

EXPLANATION;  First  of  all,  you  must  prepare  a  match  box,  the  type  box 
most  suitable  is  a  penny  box  of  matches  that  contains  wooden  matches. 
Cut  a  hole  the  size  should  be  a  trifle  larger  than  the  circumference 
of  the  cigarette.  This  hole  is  cut  on  the  right-hand  side  in  one  end 
of  the  drawer  of  the  match  box.  Into  this  hole,  place  a  cigarette. 


Replace  as  many  matches  as  the  box  will  hold  without  crowding,  with 
the  exception  of  three  or  four  matches  which  remain  on  the  top,  the 
balance  of  the  matches  are  glued  together.  This  is  done  so  that  when 
the  cigarette  is  removed  from  the  box,  there  will  be  no  loose  matches 
to  accidently  drop  out. 

The  box  of  matches  containing  the  cigarette  is  then  placed  in  the 
left  coat  pocket,  the  cigarette  end  up.  Go  through  the  motions  as 
described  in  the  effect  of  the  experiment  and  upon  reaching  the 
point  where  the  match  is  required,  remove  the  box  from  the  pocket, 
being  careful  to  hold  the  cigarette  so  that  it  points  towards  you  and 
out  of  sight  of  the  spectators.  Push  the  drawer  open  from  the  back 
one  third  of  the  way  with  the  right  thumb  so  that  the  protruding  end 
of  the  cigarette  goes  into  the  box.  Show  the  hands  empty,  transferr- 
ing the  box  to  the  right  hand.  Remove  the  match,  strike  same,  and 
holding  the  box  cupped  in  the  right  hand,  bring  the  burning  match  up 
under  the  box,  your  hands  shielding  your  mouth.  As  you  do  this,  take 
the  cigarette  between  the  lips  and  making  a  quarter  turn  of  the  face 
to  the  right,  under  cover  of  this  motion  the  cigarette  is  slipped  out 
of  the  box  and  the  match  is  brought  in  contact  with  same  and  the 
cigarette  is  ignited.  The  hands  are  then  quickly  taken  away  exposing 
the  performer  smoking  the  cigarette.  Toss  the  match  aside  and  put 
the  box  back  into  your  pocket. 


A  SPONGE  BALL  ROUTINE 

Procure  a  large  brown-colored  sponge  from  a  convenient  dine  store. 
From  this  sponge  cut  four  round  balls  about  one  inch  in  diameter  and 
four  more  about  one-half  inch  in  diameter.  Place  all  these  in  your 
right  hand  coat  pocket.  Begin  the  trick  by  removing  from  your  pocket 
three  of  the  large  sponge  balls  and  placing  same  on  the  table.  To 
the  spectators,  three  balls  are  used.  In  reality  you  have  four 
balls,  one  being  concealed  at  the  base  of  the  fingers  on  the  right 
hand,  between  the  first  and  second  fingers.  In  the  act  of  picking  up 
one  of  the  balls  from  the  table,  you  place  the  concealed  ball  on  the 
top  of  the  ball  you  are  picking  up,  showing  same  to  your  audience 
Just  as  if  only  one  ball  is  between  your  fingers.  If  this  is  done 
properly,  the  deception  will  be  perfect.  This  ball  (really  two 
balls)  is  now  placed  in  your  left  hand  which  immediately  closes, 
thereby  keeping  the  ball  from  view.  A  second  ball  is  now  picked  up 
and  placed  into  the  left  hand  which  Immediately  closes  as  before. 
Three  balls  are  now  in  the  left  hand,  which  the  audience  thinks 
contains  but  two. 

Pick  up  the  third  and  last  ball  from  the  table  with  the  right  hand. 
You  apparently  place  this  in  your  right-hand  coat  pocket,  but  in 
reality  it  is  held  between  the  first  and  second  fingers  near  their 
tips,  the  thumb  aiding  in  getting  it  into  position.  The  balls  in  the 
left  hand  are  now  thrown  on  the  table,  showing  three  therein,  and 
making  it  appear  that  the  discarded  ball  has  joined  the  first  two  in 
the  left  hand. 

You  are  now  ready  to  repeat  the  operation,  using  the  same  procedure  as 
described  above.  Then  if  you  desire  to'repeat  again,  place  the  balls 
into  a  spectator's  hand  instead  of  using  your  own  hand.  Care  must 
be  taken  that  the  spectator  does  not  open  his  hand  prematurely. 

You  can  now  repeat  the  trick  again  and  Instead  of  placing- one  large 
ball  between  the  first  and  second  finger,  procure  the  four  smaller 
balls  holding  these  in  the  same  manner  as  the  one  large  ball  was  held 
in  the  previous  operation.  When  this  routine  is  completed  your 
spectator  will  have  six  balls  in  his  hand  instead  of  the  usual  three. 


-18-  A  GLASS  OF  WATER  AND  A  COIN 

THE  EFFECT;  A  quarter  is  placed  on  the  table;  a  playing  card  is 
placed  over  it.  The  two  are  now  covered  with  a  soft  felt  hat.  You 
inform  your  audience  that  you  will  attempt  to  cause  the  coin  to 
appear  heads  or  tails,  as  desired.  Regardless  of  their  choice,  the 
hat  and  card  are  lifted  and  the  trick  is  tried  again.  If  you  fail 
you  remark  that  you  will  cause  the  coin  to  pjaas  through  the  top  of 
the  table.  Again  the  hat  is  lifted,  but  this  tine  your  audience  sees 
on  the  table,  instead  of  the  coin  a  glass  partly  filled  with  water. 

EXPLANATION;  The  trick  is  performed  while  you  are  standing  at  a 
small  table  with  your  audience  standing  all  around  you  and  this  is 
where  the  value  of  misdirection  will  be  appreciated.  First  of  all, 
you  must  secretly  procure  an  ordinary  glass  and  fill  it  half  way  with 
water.  You  now  place  this  glass  under  the  vest  in  a  convenient 
manner.  The  glass  will  easily  stay  in  position  and  it  will  not  be 
noticable. 

Procure  a  soft  hat  and  lay  it  on  the  table.  Borrow  a  coin  which  you 
place  on  the  table  and  cover  it  with  a  card.  Over  these,  place  the 
hat  and  request  someone  to  call  heads  or  tails.  Lift  the  hat  with  the 
right  hand,  bringing  it  to  a  natural  position  against  the  body  at  the 
waist-line,  where  the  glass  has  been  placed.  Ask  the  spectator  to 
lift  the  card.  If  you  are  ritfht  regarding  the  coin,  say  that  you  will 
repeat  the  trick.  If  you  are  wrong,  make  excuses  and  say  that  you 
will  try  again.  You  now  repeat  the  procedure  previously  described  and 
once  more  bring  the  hat  to  the  waist-line.  When  your  spectator  again 
starts  to  lift  the  card,  all  eyes  are  naturally  centered  on  what  is 
taking  place  on  the  table,  this  gives  you  ample  opportunity  to  secure 
the  glass  with  your  left  hand,  place  it  underneath  the  hat,  and  grasp 
it  with  the  right  hand  to  the  top  of  the  hat,  all  unnoticed. 

This  time  you  take  out  the  coin  with  the  left  hand  and  lay  hat  and 
glass  on  the  table.  Care  must  be  taken  so  as  not  to  make  a  noise. 
The  coin  is  now  apparently  placed  in  the  right  hand  which  makes  a 
throwing  motion  under  the  table.  Lift  the  hat  with  your  left  hand  and 
to  the  surprise  of  all,  a  glass  of  water  magically  appears  on  the 
table. 


JUMPING  RUBBER  BAND 

To  make  a  rubber  band  jump  from  the  first  two  fingers  to  the  last  two 
may  be  done  as  follows:  Stretch  the  band  inward  with  the  other  hand 
and  bend  all  four  fingers  into  the  band.  Show  the  back  of  the  hand 
with  the  band  still  on  the  first  two  fingers,  and  then  extend  all  four 
fingers.  The  elastic  will  Jump  to  the  last  two  fingers. 

The  process  may  be  reversed  to  bring  the  band  back  to  its  original 
position. 


BURNING  A  LUMP  OF  SUGAR 

Now,  that  sugar  has  come  down  in  price,  the  following  trick  will 
prove  a  most  perplexing  problem.  A  match  is  set  to  a  lump  of  sugar, 
which  Ignites  and  burns  with  a  slow,  blue  flame.  When  the  spectators 
attempt  to  duplicate  the  feat,  their  efforts  are  unsuccessful — the 
sugar  will  not  light. 

To  present  this  little  mystery,  one  corner  of  the  lump  is  secretly 
dipped  into  the  ashes  of  a  cigar  or  cigarette.  It  will  then  ignite 
when  set  to  the  lighted  match;  but  those  unacquainted  with  the  secret 
will  find  the  trick  impossible. 


THE  VANISHING  COIN  -19- 

For  impromptu  work  with  borrowed  articles,  the  effect  about  to  be 
described  is  one  of  the  most  perfect  illusions  of  which  the  present 
writer  knows.  Too,  it  is  a  very  nice  little  stunt  to  have  on  tap 
for  the  man  who  has  a  smattering  of  conjuring.  Should  he  desire  to 
examine  the  goblet  after  the  experiment  is  over,  the  performer  may 
with  relish  lead  him  on,  by  means  of  apparent  reluctanct  to  acquiesce 
with  his  request,  then  pass  the  glass  to  him.  No  circular  crystal 
disk  will  reward  the  inquisitive  "sucker's"  search. 

Briefly,  a  borrowed  coin,  covered  with  a  borrowed  handkerchief,  is 
audibly  heard  to  drop  into  a  borrowed  goblet,  half  full  of  water.  The 
handkerchief  is  secured  about  the  goblet  with  an  elastic  band,  and  all 
is  handed  to  someone  to  hold.  Upon  examination,  the  coin  is  found  to 
have  vanished  completely,  being  reproduced  at  the  performer's 
sidcretion. 

In  your  left  vest  pocket  have  an  elastic  band.  Borrow  a  stemmed 
goblet  with  a  fairly  large  base,  and  half  fill  it  with  water.  Openly 
place  a  borrowed  half  dollar  in  the  center  of  the  borrowed  handkerchif 
which  lies  across  the  right  hand.  Seize  the  coin  from  beneath  with 
the  right  hand  thumb  and  fingers,  through  the  fabric  of  the  handker- 
chief, and  pick  up  the  goblet  by  its  base  in  the  left  hand,  the  thumb 
and  first  or  second  fingers  encircling  the  stem  to  steady  the  goblet, 
the  other  fingers  lying  around  the  circumference  of  the  base,  to  form 
a  sort  of  cup. 

The  right  hand  drapes  the  handker  hief,  coin  still  beneath,  over  the 
goblet.  Say  that,  at  the  count  of  "Three,"  you  will  drop  the  coin 
into  the  goblet.  Count  very  slowly. 


Just  as  the  right  hand  is  about  to  drop  the  coin,  the  left  hi»n^  tilts 
the  top  of  the  goblet  toward  the  company,  far  enough  so  the  coin 
cannot  fall  into  it,  but  not  far  enough  to  spill  water.  The  coin 
drops  onto  the  tilted  base  of  the  goblet,  ringing  with  striking 
naturalness,  and  slides  into  the  cupped  left  fingers. 

Immediately  the  right  hand  draws  the  handkerchief  tightly  over  the 
goblet's  mouth,  and  seizes  the  stem  through  it.  The  left  hand,  going 
to  the  vest  pocket,  drops  the  coin  therein.  The  handkerchief  is 
secured  by  slipping  the  rubber  band  over  the  goblet's  stem.  Then  all 
is  handed  to  a  skeptical  party  for  the  denouement. 


THE  TRAVELLING  PENNIES 

Four  pennies  are  placed  seven  or  eight  inches  apart  in  the  form  of  a 
square  on  a  cloth-covered  table.  Two  playing  cards  are  placed  over 
two  of  the  coins.  Coin  No.  5  is  taken  in  the  right  hand  and 
apparently  passed  through  the  table.  On  lifting  the  card  that  was 
placed  over  coin  No.  1,  two  coins  are  found  there.  The  fourth  coin 
is  then  taken  and  also  passed  through  the  table,  the  card  again 
lifted  and  three  coins  are  found.  The  last  coin  is  now  passed  from 
underneath  the  other  card  and  all  four  are  found  under  the  first 
card. 

EXPLANATION;  Use  the  same  routine  as  previously  described  in  A 
NOVELTY  WITH  PAPER  BALLS.  Instead  of  balls,  coins  are  used  and  instead 
of  two  hats,  playing  cards  are  used. 


A  NOVEL  COIN  TRICK 

EFFECT ;  Six  pennies  are  counted  and  made  into  a  heap  on  the  table. 
Pennies  are  now  covered  with  a  small  handkerchief.  A  small  die  is 
shown,  and  placed  in  the  trousers  pocket.  The  left  hand  is  now 
placed  under  table,  and  right  whips  off  the  handkerchief.  The  die 
is  found  on  the  table  instead  of  the  coins,  which  the  left  hand 
brings  up  and  throws  onto  the  table. 

PREPARATION;  Place  six  pennies  in  your  left  trousers  pocket,  and 
six  pennies  in  your  right  trousers  pocket,  together  with  two  dice. 
The  pennies  in  your  right  trousers  pocket  should  have  a  little  bit 
of  magician's  wax  on  one  face  of  each. 

EXPLANATION;  Seat  yourself  at  the  table  and  take  out  the  six 
prepared  pennies  and  the  two  dice  (concealing  one  in  the  hand.) 
Lay  the  pennies  singly  on  the  table,  and  place  the  die  nearby.  Get 
a  small  handkerchief  from  your  pocket. 

Piling  the  pennies  in  a  stack,  waxed  surfaces  one  way,  cover  them 
with  the  handkerchief,  pressing  on  them  so  they  will  stick  together, 
at  the  same  time  introducing  the  concealed  die  under  it. 

You  now  state  that  you  will  place  the  visible  die  into  your  left 
trousers  pocket — from  whence  it  will  vanish  and  appear  under  the 
handkerchief,  while  the  pennies  will  pass  through  the  table  top.  As 
your  left  hand  cooes  from  the  pocket,  it  brings  the  other  six  pennies 
stacked,  and,  as  you  point  under  the  table,  explaining  what  you  will 
do,  you  leave  the  coins  on  your  knee.  (If  you  have  a  knee  like  mine, 
you  will  have  to  have  a  saddle  put  on  it,  such  as  bare-back  riders 
use  in  a  circus.) 

You  now  bring  up  the  left  hand  and  explain  again  what  you  intend  to 
do,  showing  the  hand  empty.  Now  reach  under  the  table  with  it, 
snatching  the  coins  from  your  knee  as  you  do  so.  With  the  right 
hand  whip  off  the  handkerchief,  secretly  bringing  away  the  colng  in 
a  block  beneath  it.  Bring  forth  the  left  hand  with  the  loose  coins, 
which  you  throw  on  the  table  with  a  bang  as  you  pocket  the  handker- 
chief and  the  pennies  concealed  in  it. 

I  would  suggest,  in  order  to  eliminate  the  danger  of  the  coins' 
slipping  off  your  knee,  that  you  have  a  cushion  on  your  chair  and, 
as  you  sit  down,  secretly  pull  it  forward  between  your  legs  far 
enough  to  make  a  shelf  on  which  you  can  easily  lay  the  coins  and 
later  scoop  them  away.  As  you  rise  you  can  readjust  the  cushion. 


THE  ROPE  AND  RING  TRICK 

A  single  piece  of  soft  thin  clothesline  is  examined,  and  anyone  runs 
it  through  an  ordinary  curtain  ring,  securing  the  latter  at  the 
lines Ts  center  with  a  single  knot.  The  performer  removes  his  coat 
and  runs  an  end  of  the  cord  down  either  sleeve — the  tied  ring 
remaining  in  full  sight.  Two  spectators  hold  the  cord  ends,  and 
under  cover  of  the  coat  the  performer  removes  the  ring,  which  may  be 
secretly  marked  to  obmiate  exchange,  Then  all  is  examined. 

This  is  the  height  of  perfection  in  misdirection,  the  method 
employed  being  absurdly  simple,  yet  practically  Indetectlble.  The 
only  requisites  are  a  soft  cord  and  two  wooden  curtain  rings,  one 
being  placed  beforehand  in  the  inner  breast  pocket  of  the  coat. 

The  tying  is  absolutely  fair,  and  the  cord  ends  are  run  through  the 
sleeves  with  no  deception  whatever.  As  the  two  parties  seize  the 


cord  ends,  the  performer's  only  move  is  to  secretly  hunch  the  coat      •*•* 
shoulders  toward  one  another,  so  that  not  many  Inches  of  cord  can  be 
seen  when  the  Inside  of  the  coat  is  shown.  The  coat  is  suspended  by 
the  cord  its  back  to  the  company. 

To  show  the  ring,  the  wizard  gives  the  coat  a  half  turn  to  his  right, 
which  of  course  slackens  the  cord  somewhat.  When  he  turns  the  coat 
back  again,  and  as  his  assistants  are  drawing  the  cord  taut,  he 
indetectibly  slides  the  coat  slightly  to  his  right  along  the  cord, 
causing  the  ring  to  enter  the  coat's  right  arm  unsuspected  by  anyone. 
A  couple  of  trials  will  teach  the  moves  better  than  a  page  of  print 
can. 

The  performer  steps  aside  a  moment,  then  goes  to  the  coat  again. 
Reaching  inside  it  he  secretly  takes  the  second  ring  from  its  breast 
pocket,  and  with  the  other  hand  again  swings  the  coat  around.  Holding 
the  ring  against  the  cord,  it  naturally  appears  to  be  the  one  tied 
thereon,  as  it  is  the  only  ring  in  sight.  Holding  the  coat  by  its 
collar  with  one  hand,  he  apparently  yanks  the  ring  free  with  the 
other . 

Requesting  his  assistants  to  release  their  hold  of  the1  cord  ends,  he 
carries  the  coat  to  the  table,  laying  it  there  on  its  back.  The  ring 
still  in  view  in  his  right  hand,  he  seizes  with  the  same  hand  the  end 
of  cord  protruding  from  the  left  coat  sleeve,  and  with  the  left  hand 
he  secretly  seized  the  ring  inside  the  right  coat  sleeve,  through  the 
fabric. 

The  need  of  a  soft  cord  becomes  apparent.  If  the  ring  is  smootn,  and 
the  knot  not  too  tight,  the  act  of  pulling  one  end  of  the  cord 
automatically  unties  It.  The  cord  pulled  free,  the  right  hand,  holding 
the  duplicate  ring,  enters  the  right  coat  sleeve  for  the  purpose  of 
putting  the  coat  on.  But  on  the  way  it  drops  that  ring  Into  the 
pocket  whence  it  came,  and  emerges  from  the  lower  end  of  the  sleeve 
with  the  original  -one,  picked  up  on  the  way.  The  coat  on,  the  ring 
and  cord  are  passed  for  examination. 


A  CUT  AND  RESTORED  ROPE  ROUTINE 

Procure  a  hank  of  soft  clothesline.  Do  not  use  the  heavily  starched 
sashcord  that  is  sometimes  sold  as  clothesline.  From  this  hank,  cut  a 
piece  about  twelve  Inches  long.  The  longer  piece  is  prepared  In  the 
following  manner:  The  two  ends  are  cemented  together  with  a  good 
grade  of  liquid  rubber  cement.  Be  sure  and  procure  a  colorless  cement. 
When  prepared  this  will  form  an  endless  loop.  Before  a  proper  joining 
can  be  made  you  must  cut  each  end  of  the  rope  in  a  diagonal  manner. 
These  ends  are  dipped  into  the  rubber  cement.  Let  the  cement  cover 
about  one-half  an  inch  of  each  end  of  the  rope.  This  must  be  allowed 
to  dry  thoroughly  and  then  the  rope  is  given  a  second  coat  of  rubber 
cement.  This  also  must  dry  thoroughly.  When  the  cement  is  completely 
dry  it  will  have  penetrated  into  the  fibers  of  the  rope  and  will  be 
practically  invisible  to  the  eye.  Care  must  be  exercised,  however, 
that  your  hands  are  clean  as  the  cement-impregnated  ends  pick  up  dirt 
from  the  pores  of  your  fingers.  Bring  the  two  prepared  ends  together, 
squeeze  them  tightly  with  your  thumb  and  forefinger  and  make  as  perfect 
a  Joining  as  possible. 

The  short  piece  of  rope  is  now  tied  into  this  endless  loop  at  a  point 
exactly  opposite  the  spliced  ends,  and  it  is  this  short  piece  of  rope 
that  passes  for  the  real  ends  of  the  rope.  Now  what  appears  to  be  the 
real  ends  of  the  rope  is  merely  an  extra  piece  of  rope  tied  around  the 
middle  of  the  long  rope. 


-22- 

PRESENTATION;  To  begin  the  experiment,  take  the  rope  thus  prepared 
from  your  pocket.  Start  to  untie  the  rope,  but  apparently  change 
your  mind  and  re-tie  it.  Hold  the  rope  with  the  fingers  of  one  hand 
over  the  joining  that  you  have  made  with  the  cement.  Hand  a 
spectator  a  pair  of  sharp  scissors  and  have  him  cut  the  rope  a  few 
inches  above  the  cemented  portion.  Have  him  examine  his  end  of  the 
rope  to  see  that  it  really  has  been  cut.  While  he  is  doing  this, 
have  another  spectator  cut  the  rope  a  few  inches  below  the  cemented 
portion  and  examine  the  rope  to  be  sure  he  has  cut  the  rope.  Replace 
the  scissors  together  with  the  cut  away  portion  of  the  rope  in  your 
pocket.  Hold  the  cut  ends  far  apart  and  then  tie  them  together. 

You  now  have  what  appears  to  be  a  real  knot  on  both  ends  of  the  rope. 
Bring  both  of  the  ends  up  together  and  have  one  selected.  You  lead 
your  audience  to  think  that  they  have  free  selection,  but  you  really 
force  the  fake  knot  for  the  final  restoration.  Suppose  the  spectator 
chooses  the  real  knot;  you  then  ask  him  to  hold  it  in  his  own  hands 
while  you  untie  the  other.  If  he  chooses  the  fake  knot,  say  that  you 
will  proceed  to  use  the  one  chosen.  The  part  now  is  to  »t  rid  of  the 
fake  knot.  Untie  it  keeping  the  fake  connection  with  the  long  rope 
concealed  by  the  left  hand.  With  the  scissors  cut  this  away  into 
several  pieces  which  you  throw  out  as  souveniers.  Cut  untilthere  is  no 
more  knot  left.  In  the  meantime,  you  can  have  the  real  knot  untied  and 
give  an  end  to  each  of  two  spectators.  After  the  fake  knot  has  been 
cut  away,  show  the  rope  has  been  restored.  If  desired  you  may  pass  for 
examination. 


THE  PHANTOM  PAPERS 

With  this  trick  you  require  a  packet  of  white  cigarette  papers,  four 
pencils,  red,  blue,  black  and  green,  four  pieces  of  tissue  paper 
corresponding  to  the  color  of  the  pencils;  one  piece  of  apparatus  which 
consists  of  a  square  of  cardboard  just  a  trifle  larger  than  a 
cigarette  paper;  two  rubber  bands  to  fit  across  the  narrow  end  of  this 
cardboard. 

PREPARATION;  Put  only  one  cigarette  paper  in  the  frame  fastening  the 
same  at  each  end  with  a  small  rubber  band.  Place  this  in  the  right-hand 
trouser  pocket  with  the  four  colored  pencils.  These  pencils  are 
prepared  as  follows:  the  black  pencil  is  an  ordinary  round  pencil 
sharpened  on  one  end  only  and  only  about  one  inch  long.  The  red  pencil 
one  inch  long,  sharpened  on  both  ends.  The  blue  pencil  one  inch  long, 
sharpened  on  one  end  and  notched  somewhere  near  the  top.  The  green 
pencil,  a  square  or  hexagon  pencil  cut  one  inch  long  and  sharpened  on 
one  end.  Place  these  pencils  in  the  trouser  pocket  with  the  apparatus. 
By  the  sense  of  touch  you  will  be  able  to  readily  distinguish  the  color 
of  the  pencils.  Be  sure  to  have  nothing  else  in  the  pocket  to  interfere 
with  the  handling  of  the  apparatus  and  the  four  pencils. 

EFFECT ;  Place  the  four  pieces  of  tissue  paper  on  the  table  and  request 
some  one  to  select  the  name  of  one  of  the  colors.  Immediately  put  your 
hand  in  your  trousers  pocket  and  find  the  pencil  of  the  same  color  as 
the  one  named.  Take  out  the  packet  of  white  tissue  and  hold  same  in 
plain  view  in  the  left  hand.  Request  another  spectator  to  name  any 
number  between  1  and  1,000. 

Ask  someone  else  to  select  one  of  the  white  tissues  and  roll  it  into  a 
small  ball.  While  this  is  being  done,  write  the  selected  number  on  the 
framed  piece  of  paper  in  the  pocket,  remove  the  paper  fron  the  center  of 
the  frame  by  pinching  it  with  the  thumb  and  first  finger  and  roll  it 
into  a  ball.  Be  sure  to  observe  the  size  of  the  ball  being  rolled  by  the 
spectator  so  that  yours  will  appear  as  nearly  like  his  as  possible. 


Bring  the  ball  out  of  the  pocket  holding  same  between  first  and 
second  fingers.  The  hand  should  be  held  in  as  natural  a  position 
as  possible.  Request  the  spectator  to  place  the  ball  on  the  table. 
As  he  does  so  pick  it  up  with  the  right  hand,  saying,  "You  must 
place  it  on  the  color  selected."  This  gives  you. the  opportunity  to 
change  the  ball  for  the  one  you  hold.  This  is  a  natural  move  and 
can  be  accomplished  with  very  little  practice.  If  he  happens  to 
place  the  ball  on  the  color  selected,  make  som  other  excuse  for 
picking  up  the  ball  and  moving  it. 

You  may  now  state  that  if  the  spirits  have  been  kind,  they  will  have 
written  the  selected  number  in  the  chosen  color.  Ask  anyone  present 
to  unroll  the  ball  and  to  the  surprise  of  every  one  the  marvelous 
feat  has  been  accomplished. 


PROJECTION  OF  THOUGHT 

The  performer  states  that  he  will  demonstrate  the  theory  of  projection 
of  thought  and  requests  some  spectator  to  assist  him  in  this  demon- 
stration. 

You  now  ask  your  assistant  to  write  any  number  of  three  different 
figures,  then  he  is  to  reverse  them  and  write  the  smaller  below  the 
larger.  Example :  571  reversed  173. 

When  this  has  been  done,  the  performer  tells  him  to  draw  a  line  under 
the  numbers  and  to  subtract  the  smaller  from  the  larger  after  he  has 
made  the  subtraction,  the  magician  writes  a  number  on  another  piece 
of  paper  laying  it  face  down  on  the  table  before  him.  Someone  is  now 
asked  to  remove  the  paper  from  the  table  and  what  has  been  written 
proves  to  be  identical  with  the  answer. 

Now  to  procure  the  result  of  the  subtraction.  First  of  all  you  will 
note  the  peculiarity  that  will  be  evident  in  the  subtraction  of  this 
type.  The  number  will  always  be  one  of  these  numbers:  99,  198,  297, 
396,  495,  594,  693,  792,  891.  Of  these  numbers  198  and  891  are  very 
uncommon.  The  performer  pays  little  attention  to  his  assistant 
until  he  is  making  his  subtraction.  Then  the  magician  watches  him 
from  a  distance  and  notes  the  movement  of  the  hand  or  the  tip  of  the 
pencil. 

This  is  an  extremely  easy  matter  which  you  will  be  able  to  get  at  the 
first  trial.  After  some  experience,  you  will  be  able  to  catch  one  of 
the  numbers  by  a  mere  glance  at  the  proper  moment.  This  proper 
moment  can  be  had  by  informing  your  assistant  not  to  begin  his  sub- 
traction until  instructed  to  do  so.  Yet  you  are  too  far  away  to  see 
the  writing  on  the  paper  on  account  of  the  elevation  of  the  pad,  so 
no  one  will  suspect  anything.  Remember  that  the  subtraction  is  from 
right  to  left,  the  center  number  is  always  nine  and  the  other  two 
numbers  will  always  add  nine,  so  one  figure  caught  by  the  movement  of 
the  pencil  will  give  you  the  clue  to  the  whole  number. 

If  you  desire  this  trick  can  be  worked  in  connection  with  the 
Phantom  Papers,  previously  described. 


THE  FOUR  PENNIES 

AFFECT:  A  penny  is  placed  in  the  palm  of  the  right  hand,  another  in 
the  left  hand.  The  hands  are  then  closed,  and  the  palms  turned 
upward.  A  spectator  lays  another  penny  on  the  ends  of  the  closed 
fingers  of  each  hand.  With  a  throwing  motion  and  turning  the  hands 


84 

downward,  one  penny  Is  caused  to  transfer,  Invisibly,  to  the  other 
hand,  so  that  the  left  hand  when  open  is  found  to  contain  three  coins, 
but  only  one  remains  in  the  right. 

PRESENTATION;  Four  pennies  are  placed  as  described  above.  When  the 
hands  are  turned  over,  the  left  hand  opens  and  grasps  the  outside 
penny  with  the  finger  tips  so  that  the  two  are  held  in  that  closed 
hand.  But  when  the  right  hand  turns,  it  opens  and  drops  on  the  table 
the  penny  in  the  palm  as  well  as  the  one  on  the  finger  tips. 

To  the  audience  it  now  appears  that  the  pennies  which  rested  on  the 
finger  tips  of  both  hands  fell  on  the  table.  Remark  that  the  trick 
did  not  work,  and  again  request  one  of  the  audience  to  place  the 
pennies  on  the  finger  tips  as  before.  Hold  the  hands  far  apart  and 
quickly  turn  them  over,  opening  the  fingers  sufficiently  to  grasp  the 
coins  with  the  finger  tips  and  pull  then  Inside  the  fists.  When  the 
hands  are  now  opened  the  left  hand  holds  three  coins  and  the  right 
hand  one,  yet  the  audience  has  not  seen  how  the  coin  was  passed  from 
one  hand  to  the  other. 


THE  VANISHING  GLASS 

This  trick  is  performed  while  you  are  seated  at  a  table.  Place  a  coin 
on  the  table  close  to  the  edge.  Over  this  coin,  place  an  ordinary 
drinking  glass  and  around  the  glass  twist  a  piece  of  newspaper  turning 
it  tightly  at  the  top  so  that  it  forms  a  shell  over  the  glass.  As 
explained  in  a  previous  trick,  you  inquire  as  to  what  the  coin  shall 
be,  heads  or  tails,  and  then  pick  up  the  glass  and  paper  to  see 
whether  you  are  correct.  While  your  audience  is  giving  their  attention 
to  the  coin,  slowly  draw  the  glass  toward  the  edge  of  the  table  and 
allow  same  to  drop  in  your  lap.  Hold  the  paper  so  that  it  will  keep 
the  shape  of  the  glass  and  place  it  down  over  the  coin  as  before,  just 
as  if  the  glass  were  still  under  the  paper.  Again  inquire  from  your 
spectators  as  to  what  they  desire  on  the  coin,  heads  or  tails. 
Regardless  of  the  result  you  suddenly  slap  your  hand  down  on  the  paper 
crushing  it  to  the  table  to  the  great  surprise  of  all  present.  If 
desired,  the  glass  can  be  reproduced  from  under  your  coat. 


PROJECTION  OF  THOUGHT  TRICK  NO.  8 

If  it  were  possible  to  carry  an  effect  of  mystery  to  the  utmost  limit, 
In  order  to  derive  something  of  an  almost  unbelievable  effect,  then 
here  In  this  trick  the  result  has  been  obtained. 

This  will  seem  positive  proof  of  thought  transmission  and  in  the 
presenting  of  this  masterpiece,  the  skeptics  in  your  audience  will  be 
convinced. 

The  performer  requests  that  someone  in  the  audience,  who  is  well  known 
and  who  positively  cannot  be  a  confederate,  to  assist  him  in  this 
experiment.  The  performer  now  states  that  he  will  demonstrate  the 
theory  of  projection  of  thought  and  his  development  of  the  so-called 
mental  Influence  that  when  you  desire  you  can  so  strongly  concentrate 
upon  a  certain  person  that  when  you  wlsn  them  to  do  or  say  a  certain 
thing,  ninety  nine  times  out  of  a  hundred  they  will  follow  out  their 
exact  wishes. 

EFFECT;  The  performer  exhibits  a  small  envelope  and  a  card.  On  this 
card  he  writes  several  items  which  he  does  not  show.  He  then  seals  the 
card  In  the  envelope.  The  spectator  who  Is  to  assist  the  per  farmer 
is  requested  to  concentrate  his  thought  when  he  is  told  to  do  so. 


-25- 

He  Is  then  asked  to  select  various  numbers,  words,  names,  etc.,  which 
the  performer  states  will  be  found  already  written  on  the  card.  At  the 
finish  of  the  experiment  this  card  is  removed  from  the  envelope  and  the 
performer's  statements  are  verified. 

PRESENTATION;  Use  a  small  size  drug  envelope.  Inside  of  this  envelope 
you  secretly  paste  a  piece  of  good  grade  red  typewriter  carbon  paper 
with  the  carbon  side  facing  the  bottom  of  the  envelope.  Be  careful  as 
to  the  size  of  the  carbon  paper  so  it  will  not  be  exposed  when  card  is 
removed  from  the  envelope.  A  blank  card  is  now  passed  for  examination. 
You  now  take  a  red  pencil  and  pretend  to  write  on  the  card  holding  it 
in  such  a  position  so  that  your  audience  cannot  see  as  you  write.  In 
reality  you  do  not  write  on  the  card  at  all.  Just  pretend  to  do  so. 
Place  the  card,  which  is  still  blank,  in  the  envelope.  It  is  now 
sealed  and  held  in  the  left  hand.  You  now  request  your  assistant  to 
name  a  number  between  one  and  one  thousand,  to  name  a  day  in  the  week, 
a  month  in  the  'year,  or  the  name  of  some  prominent  person,  etc.  When 
he  mentions  his  selections,  you  make  a  note  of  each  by  writing  them 
down  on  a  loose  slip  of  paper  as  they  are  called  out.  For  convenience 
in  writing,  use  a  heavy  piece  of  cardboard  or  a  pad  slightly  larger 
than  the  envelope,  as  a  support.  You  lay  the  envelope  with  the  card 
side  undermost  on  the  pad.  Over  the  envelope  lay  a  loose  slip  of 
paper  for  taking  notes,  so  that  the  envelope  rests  under  the 
memorandum  slip,  apparently  by  accident.  In  making  a  note  on  the 
pad,  use  a  No.  5  black  lead  pencil.  As  you  write  on  the  paper  with 
this  hard  pencil,  a  carbon  copy  in  red  is  transferred  to  the  card 
enclosed  in  the  envelope.  See  that  you  keep  within  the  space  of  the 
envelope.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  test,  open  the  envelope  and  hand 
the  card  to  someone  in  the  audience,  the  slip  of  paper  given  to 
another  spectator,  opened  and  read  for  verification.  Keep  the  envelope 
and  drop  same  carelessly  into  your  pocket. 

If  this  trick  is  properly  presented,  it  is  really  a  masterpiece. 


DOLLAR  BlfrL  AND  LEMON  TRICK 

The  effect  of  this  marvelous  experiment  is  as  follows:  The  performer 
passes  an  ordinary  lemon  for  Inspection.  This  is  passed  back  to  him 
after  the  spectators  have  satisfied  themselves  that  it  is  entirely 
without  preparation  of  any  kind,  and  the  performer  places  the  lemon  in 
full  view.  Next  a  number  of  bank  notes  are  borrowed  from  the  audience, 
and  the  owners  are  requested  to  mark  them  or  note  the  serial  numbers 
to  Identify  them  later  on.  The  borrowed  bank  notes  are  now  wrapped  in 
a  borrowed  handkerchief  from  which  they  vanish,  and  upon  cutting  the 
lemon  in  half  are  found  rolled  up  on  the  inside  of  the  lemon. 

In  this  method  the  performer  has  a  duplicate  lemon  with  a  hole  cut  in 
one  end  and  extending  almost  through  to  the  other  end.  This  hole  is 
about  one  half  inch  in  diameter.  This  lemon  is  placed  in  the  right 
hand  coat  pocket.  The  handkerchief  to  be  used  for  vanishing  the  bank 
notes  is  of  the  ordinary  linen  kind.  Prepare  it  by  rolling  up  a  small 
parcel  of  paper  about  one  inch  long  by  one  half  inch  in  diameter.  Sew 
this  bundle  in  one  corner  of  the  handkerchief.  In  performing,  pass 
the  real  lemon  for  inspection  and  on  its  being  returned  to  you,  place 
it  in  the  left  coat  pocket,  but  at  the  same  time,  place  the  right 
hand  in  the  right  coat  pocket.  By  doing  this,  the  audience  will  not 
know  whether  the  lemon  was  put  in  the  right  or  left  hand  coat  pocket. 
This,  as  will  be  seen  later  will  have  an  important  bearing  on  the 
trick.  The  next  step  is  to  borrow  the  notes.  Be  sure  to  impress 
upon  the  parties  loaning  you  the  notes  the  necessity  of noting  the 
serial  numbers  for  future  identification.  As  it  is  quite  impossible 


86- 

for  the  average  person  to  memorize  on  a  moments  notice  the  entire 
serial  number,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  ask  them  to  remember  the  three 
last  numbers.  This  is  quite  sufficient  for  identification 
purposes.  After  receiving  the  required  amount  of  bank  notes  (three 
being  sufficient)  they  are  rolled  up  into  a  parcel  closely  resembling 
the  parcel  of  paper  sewed  in  the  corner  of  the  handkerchief.  Take 
the  handkerchief  from  the  pocket,  getting  the  corner  with  the  paper 
in  the  palm  of  the  left  hand.  Under  cover  of  the  handkerchief,  and 
while  in  the  act  of  wrapping  the  borrowed  notes  in  the  handkerchief, 
secretly  bring  the  parcel  of  paper  into  the  center  of  the  handker- 
chief so  that,  to  all  appearances  the  bank  notes  are  wrapped  therein. 
At  the  same  time  thumb-palm  the  notes. 

Now  with  the  left  hand  gather  up  the  handkerchief,  letting  the  center 
with  what  looks  like  the  notes  hand  down.  While  you  are  passing  among 
the  spectators  letting  them  feel  that  the  money  really  remains  in  the 
handkerchief  the  right  hand,  with  the  bills  thumb-palmed,  nonchalantly 
drops  into  the  right  hand  coat  pocket,  which  is  the  pocket  containing 
the  prepared  lemon.  The  rolled  up  bills  are  then  introduced  into  the 
lemon,  and  the  lemon  at  once  brought  out  of  the  pocket.  By  this  time 
you  are  on  the  way  back  to  the  stage,  where  you  shake  out  the  handker- 
chief, showing  that  the  bank  notes  have  disappeared  and  all  that  remains 
is  to  cut  open  the  lemon,  revealing  the  roll  of  bank  notes  therein. 
In  cutting  open  the  lemon,  care  should  be  taken  to  keep  the  part  with 
the  hole  facing  away  from  the  spectators.  It  is  also  a  good  plan  to 
have  a  linen  handkerchief  placed  loosely  in  the  right  coat  pocket  to 
absorb  any  juice  that  may  be  forced  out  of  the  lemon  by  Inserting  the 
notes . 

In  this  method  the  performer  prepares  a  lemon  by  slitting  one  end  and 
inserting  a  dollar  bill,  the  last  three  numbers  of  which  have  been 
memorized,  or  are  written  very  small  on  the  performer 's  thumb-nail. 
This  lemon  is  then  placed  among  others  on  a  plate,  and  forced  on  the 
audience  by  equivoque  or  some  other  method,  or  it  Is  placed  behind  a 
handkerchief  and  switched.  In  borrowing  the  dollar  bill  for  this 
experiment,  care  must  be  taken  to  get  it  away  from  the  spectator  be- 
fore he  has  a  chance  to  note  any  identifying  numbers.  After  you  get 
back  to  the  stage  you  remark  "Oh,  pardon  me,  will  you  kindly  remember 
these  numbers  to  identify  your  bill  when  it  is  returned  to  you."  At 
this  point  you  read  the  numbers  you  have  on  the  thumbnail,  or  which  you 
have  memorized,  the  numbers  being,  of  course,  the  numbers  on  the  dollar 
bill  which  is  already  inside  the  lemon.  The  borrowed  dollar  bill  may 
now  be  disposed  of  by  way  of  the  card  box  or  some  other  piece  of 
apparatus,  and  subsequently  found  inside  the  lemon.  This  method  just 
given  Is  by  far  the  simplest,  and  although  it  requires  nerve  more  than 
anything  els*  to  present,  It  Is  just  as  effective,  particularly  if 
presented  with  a  running  fire  of  patter. 


-27- 

MENTALISM  DE  LUXE. 


Introduction; 


This  act,  lending  Itself  as  it  does  to  an  effective  and 
varied  presentation,  can  not  be  too  highly  recommended  for  the 
attention  of  the  magical  fraternity.  Sure  fire  in  action,  requiring 
but  two,  performers,  using  no  irksome  codes,  and  but  commonplace 
articles,  it  may  be  performed  anywhere  without  previous  preparation, 
or  but  a  modicum  of  it,  and  will  be  found  admirably  suited  for  an 
entire  act,  an  impromptu  display  of  talent,  or  as  a  serious  test  for 
the  mental  worker. 

Description  of  effect,  with  remarks  relative  to  same: 

While  we  propose  to  give  here  a  brief  description  of  the 
act  as  seen  from  the  vantage  point  of  the  audience,  the  routine  as 
shown  is  not  necessarily  binding  upon  the  performers,  who  may  vary 
it  at  will,  adding  or  subtracting  additional  and  original  effects 
of  their  own,  based  on  the  same  principle  or  not  as  they  see  fit  and 
depending  on  their  respective  abilities. 

Imagine  the  curtain  rising  on  a  stage  set  with  utmost 
simplicity,  the  main  property  being  in  fact  but  a  small,  undraped 
table  which  might  very  well  be  an  ordinary  card  table.   A  pack  of 
cards,  a  purse,  cigarettes,  a  few  books,  possibly  some  few  other  small 
articles  rest  upon  it.   The  stern  but  pleasant  gentleman  who  has  Just 
introduced  himself  to  the  audience  is  saying  something  about  the 
possibilities  of  what  he  terms  "silent  thought  transmission  or  pro- 
jection" or  the  transmission  of  thought  waves  without  physical  con- 
tact. We  listen,  possibly  we  smile.   But  wait.   We  prick  up  our  ears. 
He  offers  to  prove  his  point,  and  then  brings  forward  his  assistant, 
or  had  we  better  term  him  "medium"  who  in  this  case  happens  to  be  a 
remarkably  cool  and  self-possessed  man   A  committee  is  quickly  chosen, 
who  take  him  away,  and  in  a  distant  room  to  guard  him  carefully  that 
he  may  have  no  inkling  of  what  is  to  occur  in  his  absence. 

The  medium  gone,  a  series  of  tests  is  proposed  and  ar- 
ranged A  card  is  chosen  from  a  pack,  a  small  amount  of  money  is 
placed  in  a  purse,  a  card  is  initialed  and  sealed  in  an  envelope,  a 
watch  is  set  at  any  desired  hour,  a  book  is  chosen  from  the  several 
present  and  a  page  and  selection  freely  chosen,  possibly  some  colored 
crayons  are  taken  from  their  case. 

The  lecturer  sums  up:  "Surely  his  assistant  can  have  no 
prior  knowledge  of  what  has  been  done,  even  the  committee  on  guard  is 
entirely  ignorant  of  what  has  taken  place.   He  himself  will  now  leave 
the  room,  and  the  absent  committee  may  now  produce  the  object  of  their 
care."  Himself  retiring  at  once,  the  committee  file  in  with  the  medium. 
They  testify  as  to  their  extreme  vigilance.   Possibly  they  have  even 
taken  the  precaution  to  blindfold  the  medium.   They  step  back,  allowing 
the  medium,  who  seems  remarkably  cool  and  collected  for  a  man  about  to 
undertake  a  most  serious  feat  in  mentology,  to  stand  alone. 

Some  of  the  audience  are  smiling  We  smile  with  them.  There 
is  a  subdued  murmur  of  "it  can't  be  done"  BUT  HE  DOES  DO  IT.  Wonder  of 
wonders,  the  card  is  named,  the  correct  amount  in  the  purse  is  stated, 
to  climax  all  the  medium  turns  to  the  correct  page  and  reads  the  de- 
sired selection.  We  stand  amazed,  and  go  home  wondering.  Have  we  really 
witnessed  an  exhibition  of  thought  transmission?  V/hat  magic  is  this? 
Truly  wonderful. 


Explanation: 


So  much  for  the  effect  of  this  really  fine  feat  of  mental 
magic.  The  explanation  of  the  various  tests  will,  as  most  likely  the 
acute  reader  will  have  surmised,  lies  in  a  clever  system  of  coding.  In 
short,  the  way  in  which  the  various  articles  are  placed  upon  the  table 
by  the  lecturer  furnish  the  clues  to  the  medium.   That  in  a  word,  is 
the  underlying  principle  of  the  experiment.  While  this  principle  is 
more  or  less  a  fundamental  one,  it  must  be  remembered  that  it  is 
axiomatic  that  the  simpler  the  working  the  more  baffling  the  feat  of 
magic,  for  there  v/ill  be  less  to  discover.   With  due  regard  to  the 
artistic  presentation,  the  principle  is  twisted  and  turned  through  many 
applications  to  the  more  mystify  and  baffle  the  senses  of  the  spectators. 

But  not  to  weary  the  reader,  let  us  proceed  with  the  ex- 
planation. The  secret  as  we  have  observed  is  quite  simple  and  'funda- 
mental. Imagine  the  table  top  to  be  laid  out  in  (imaginary)  squares  or 
oblongs  as  shovm  in  Figure  I,  and  numbered  as  indicated  there,  from  1 
to  12  or  from  13  to  24  etc.  as  the  case  may  be  called  for  by  other  sig- 
nals. It  will  now  be  obvious  that  it  becomes  a  simple  matter  to  indicate 
a  figure,  say  5  by  laying  some  pre-arranged  object  on  the  imaginary 
square  #5. 

This  is  the  principle  adhered  to  throughout,  that  of  signal- 
ing by  means  of  laying  the  object  about  which  something  is  to  be  indi- 
cated upon  the  proper  square  or  in  the  proper  position.  Other  principles, 
familiar  to  all  exponents  of  the  art,  are  added  to  the  fundamental  one 
to  add  to  the  effect  of  the  act  and  to  act  as  misdirection  to  the  senses 
of  the  audience. 

Applications: 

To  go  on  with  the  various  applications: 
Test  number  one.  (Card  Test) 

A  card  is  selected  from  a  shuffled  pack,  cards  put  in  case, 
case  put  on  table. 

Explanation:  Pack  is  put  on  the  square  indicating  the 
value,  as  square  #1  for  Ace,  Square  #11  for  Jack,  12  for  queen.  There 
being  no  13,  the  King  is  signalled  by  placing  the  pack  in  any  extreme 
corner  of  the  table.  Joker  is  signalled  by  leaving  the  pack  in  the 
audience,  which,  in  the  event  the  Joker  is  selected  will  add  materially 
to  the  effect,  as  the  cards  do  not  leave  the  possession  of  the  audience. 

The  suit  of  the  card  selected  is  indicated  by  the  angle  of 
the  case  in  the  square  indicating  the  value.   This  is  clearly  shown  in 
Figure  II,  and  requires  no  further  explanation   As  a  memory  aid,  remem- 
ber that  the  black  suits  are  diagonal. 
FIG.  #1 


I 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

% 

9 

10 

11 

72 

PERFORMER 


Clubs  -  Diamonds  -  Spades  -  Hearts 


-29- 


Test  number  two  (Cigarette  test) 

Here  we  have  the  choice  of  alternative  procedures  as  a 
pack  of  cigarettes  is  opened  and  several  taken  out,  the  case  closed 
and  placed  on  the  table.  The  medium  may  either  tell  how  many 
cigarettes  have  been  abstracted,  or  else  how  many  remain  in  the  case 
as  he  prefers. 

Explanation:  The  number  remaining  in  the  case  is  signalled  in  the 
familiar  manner  by  placing  the  case  in  the  proper  square,  as  shown 
in  Figure  III.  We  may  remark  here  however,  that  it  is  advisable  to 
use  cigarettes  having  a  pasteboard  case,  as  this  can  be  closed  more 
readily.  The  cigarettes  should  of  course  be  brought  forward  sealed 
in  their  original  wrapper.   Note:  If  no  cigarettes  are  removed  the 
package  is  left  with  the  audience.   Note:  The  cigarette  box  is  placed 
in  position  number  one  if  there  are  from  one  to  twelve  cigarettes 
removed  and  in  position  number  two  if  from  13  to  24  cigarettes  are 
removed  and  then  in  this  case  square  #1  is  13,  square  #2  is  14  and 
so  on  to  #12  which  is  #24. 

FIGURE  III 


POSITION  #1 


POSITION  #2 


Test  number  three.  (Crayon  Test) 

One  of  the  familiar  packets  of  colored  crayons  is  brought 
forward,  opened,  and  one  of  the  colored  crayons  is  removed  from  the 
packet,  the  case  being  then  closed  and  placed  on  the  table. 

Explanation:  Square  #1  Black,  #2  Blue,  #3  Brown,  #4  Green, 
#5  Orange,  #6  Red,  #7  Violet,  #8  Yellow.   Note:  The  colors  are 
arranged  in  their  alphabetical  sequence  as  an  aid  to  memory.   As  to 
the  crayons,  the  ones  we  have  before  us  as  we  write  are  #8,  Crayons, 
manufactured  by  Binney  and  Smith  Co.  of  New  York,  this  particular 
size  containing  eight  colors,  'which  is  a  convenient  number  for  the 
purpose  of  this  experiment. 

Test  number  four  (Purse  Test) 

A  small  sum  of  money  is  put  into  an  ordinary  clasp  purse, 
which  is  then  placed  on  the  table.  As  the  amount  which  can  be  success- 
fully signaled  must  not  exceed  fifty  cents  (50j^),  it  is  advisable  to 
bring  the  purse  with  the  fifty  cents  in  small  change  already  in  it, 
thus  forcing  the  audience  to  use  this  money  or  whatever  portion  of 
it  they  choose.  For  signals  see  figure  IV. 


FIGURE  IV. 


Position  #1    Position  #2. 


Position  #3    Position  #4 


-30- 


(Purse  Test  continued) 

Purse  in  position  number  one,  indicate  from  lj^  t'o  12^. 

Purse  in  position  number  two,  indicate  from  13^  to  24^. 

Purse  in  position  number  three,  indicate  from  25^  to  56^. 

Purse  in  position  number  four,  indicate  from  37^  to  48^. 

Purse  placed  in  any  position  in  any  corner  of  the  table 
indicates  49^. 

Purse  placed  on  a  chair  indicates  50j^. 

Test  number  five  (Initial  Test) 

A  card  is  initialed  with  two  letters,  sealed  in  an  envelope 
which  is  placed  on  the  table. 

Explanation:   Figure  V  is  self  explanatory: 

Figure  V 


For  the  first  initial:  The  envelope  placed  flap  up  in  position  #1 
signals  A  (1)  to  L  (12)  and  the  envelope  in  position  #2  signals 
M  (13)  to  X  (24).   To  aignal  Y,  place  the  envelope  in  any  square 
with  the  flap  down  as  shown  in  position  //3.   To  signal  the  letter 
Z  place  the  envelope  in  any  square  flap  down  as  shown  in  position 
#4. 


Position  #1    Position  #2 


Position  #3 


Position  #4. 


The  second  initial  is  signalled  by  placing  the  pencil  as  follows: 
Placed  in  position  #1  indicates  A  (1)  to  L  (12).   Placed  in  position 
#2  indicates  M  (13)  to  X  (24) .   To  signal  Y  place  the  pencil  in  any 
corner  of  the  table.  To  signal  Z  place  the  pencil  off  the  table. 


Pencil  In  position  #1. 


Pencil  in  position 


-31- 


Test  number  five  (Watch  Test) 

The  watch  to  be  used,  if  possible,  should  be  a  closed 
face  watch  in  the  pocket  of  the  lecturer  and  not  running.   Have 
a  spectator  set  this  watch  at  any  hour  and  minute  that  he  desires. 
Allow  others  in  the  room  to  see  it,  then  close  the  watch  and  place 
same  on  the  table. 

Explanation:   Place  the  watch  in  the  proper  square  to  indicate  the 
hour.  To  indicate  the  minute  as  follows:   If  the  minute  is  exactly 
divisible  by  five  (5)  the  task  is  simplified  and  the  signal  is 
given  with  the  stem  of  the  watch.   Use  the  watch  as  an  imaginary 
clock  dial  and  point  the  stem  of  the  watch  so  that  it  lays  pointing 
toward  the  minute  selected.  For  example:  If  the  watch  has  been  set 
at  3.25  o'clock  place  the  watch  in  the  square  corresponding  with 
#3.  Then  turn  the  stem  of  the  watch  around  so  as  to  correspond  with 
the  figure  five  on  the  clock  which  would  indicate  3.25.   See  figure 
VI.  below: 

Figure  VI. 
Audience 

5"  to ,-,: 


10  t 
K  to. 3: 

*0to* 


OTtfe  <,   .. 

Performer. 

h4ff-t>4.*t 

If  there  are  odd  minutes  to  indicate,  this  is  done  by 
signaling  with  the  guard  or  ring  to  which  the  chain  is  attached. 


Plat,  against  the  watch,  add  one  minute 
Add  two  minutes 
Add  three  minutes 
Add  four  minutes. 


Ring  straight  out  and  flat  on  the  table  indicates 
that  there  are  no  extra  minutes  to  add  and  that  the 
minute  is  exactly  divisible  by  five,  as  Illustrated 
above. 


-32- 


Test  number  six  (Book  Teat) 

The  performer  gives  a  spectator  his  free  selection 
from  a  number  of  books.   Another  spectator  is  asked  to  select  a 
certain  page  in  this  book,  still  another  one  to  select  a  certain  par- 
agraph that  he  desires  the  medium  to  read.  This  book  is  then  placed 
on  the  table.  The  balance  of  the  books  discarded. 

Explanation!  The  book  placed  in  position  #1  indicate  pages  1-9. 
The  book  placed  in  position  #2  Indicates  pages  10  to  120.  In  Position 
f/2  the  cover  of  the  book  must  be  placed  facing  upwards. 

The  book  placed  in  position  #3,  indicates  pages  130 
to  240.  In  position  #3  the  cover  of  the  book  must  be  placed  dovmard. 

If  there  are  any  odd  pages  to  indicate  use  a  small  book 
mark  which  you  have  in  the  book  and  -place  this  in  the  proper  position 
on  the  table  to  indicate  the  number  of  pages  to  be  addled  to  what  the 
book  signals.  For  example:  Suppose  that  page  127  has  been  selected. 
Place  the  book  in  the  square  that  will  signal  120  (12)  and  the  book 
mark  in  the  square  to  signal  7. 

The  exact  selection  of  the  paragraph  to  be  read  is  sig- 
naled by  placing  a  finger  nail  mark  on  the  margin  of  the  page  opposite 
that  particular  paragraph 


FIGURE  VII. 


Position  #1 


Position  #2 


Position  #3. 


(COVER) 

